Jim's Jerky in the news

The story of Jim’s Jerky began 16 years ago, when Queensland graziers Jim and Cathie decided to start making beef jerky. In their first month they created 12kg volume of jerky and had to figure out how to sell it! From their humble beginnings as a small butcher shop in Charlton, just west of Toowoomba, the manufacturing space has grown to incorporate four other shops on that strip and now sells to over 300 stockists around Australia.

Daughter and now CEO Emily Pullen joined the family business in 2015, and says the last five years have been one big learning curve as she’s worked with her parents to grow the business together. “Working with my family has been the most rewarding experience,” Emily says, and notes that even though the business has grown over the last few years, they still pride themselves on being family-owned and operated.

Jim’s Jerky manufactures a range of beef snacks including biltong and beer sticks, but they are most famous for their jerky. Emily says, “It was a new type of jerky when it first hit the market – different to the traditional varieties available 15 years ago; and has been delighting jerky eaters all over Australia ever since.“

Jim’s Jerky call their product the “taste of Australia”, believing an important aspect of Aussie cuisine has been the adopting and melding of flavours from other cultures around the globe. So, while using only quality Australian cattle, they create all kinds of flavours from their major hit “Original” to refined artisan varieties like Teriyaki and Salted Caramel. Emily says they refer to their headquarters as their Jerky Cellar Door, “you can sample everything we make and find flavours and varieties you can’t get anywhere else.”

When asked who their main client base is, Emily says, “Anyone who loves to snack. More and more people are thinking more about what they snack on and are looking for high protein, low sugar alternatives to chips and lollies.” The push toward healthier snacks is also reflected in their minimal processing and focus on quality ingredients.

Their personal business motto is “Quality. Every time.” and it’s hard to argue with – but the direction they see the business going in the future? A cultural shift; “We just hope to keep producing fantastic beef snacks, and get more Aussies eating beef jerky.” With flavours like BBQ, smokey and honey soy available all across the country – that doesn’t seem like such a stretch.

 

Click here to visit their website.

 

Jim's Jerky offering showbags and isolation packs online

Agribusiness
Jim's Jerky CEO Emily Pullen pictured with product in its store. The company has now changed its business model to sell online from a website. Picture - supplied.

 Jim's Jerky CEO Emily Pullen pictured with product in its store. The company has now changed its business model to sell online from a website. Picture - supplied.

 

 

 

The current global health emergency may have thrown normal operating procedures out the window, but Australia's agriculture industries have met the challenge head on.

For many, this has come in the form of adjusting their business models to offer food deliveries to households, ensuring that as many products as possible are getting into the hands of people who need it.

The TSBE Emerging Exporters Program recognised this redirection of products as one of the first trends in adapting to the current climate, and has been helping businesses by linking them to grants and opportunities.

In the case of Jim's Jerky, the Toowoomba-based family-owned and run business which sells jerky products sourced from Australian beef producers, this business model change has come through selling their products online, and selling new items including showbags and isolation packs.

Jim 's Jerky CEO Emily Pullen said that a significant part of their business model was attending shows and markets across Australia.

"With the cancellations for the foreseeable future, we've been redirecting people to our website, recently launching our showbags online," Ms Pullen said.

"We are still wanting people to feel the show spirit, and they are able to have that delivered to their door."

The Jim's Jerky showbag has the top five different flavours of their jerky product, while the isolation pack has eight snack products they thought customers might like to eats while isolating.

Now, the company is looking into new products to expand their range and cater to their market.

Jim's Jerky racking in the production stage. Picture - supplied.

 Jim's Jerky racking in the production stage. Picture - supplied.


"With certain difficulties with export, TSBE has been working to understand what opportunities are closer to home for Jim's Jerky and where the short-term effort needs to be focused," Mr Heaven said.TSBE export manager Justin Heaven said it had been able to support Jim's Jerky, understanding with the sudden changes how the business has needed to adapt to continue to operate.

General manager of TSBE Food Leaders Australia, Bruce McConnel said the speed at which the region's food producers were able to adapt had been absolutely outstanding.

This means they have been able to capture opportunities during a time of such uncertainty and see their businesses continue to hold staff and create economic growth for the region, he said.

"We are now seeing that the panic buying of products off the shelf is starting to slow down, and export markets are now opening back up again," Mr McConnel said.

"So now, the food businesses are needing to pivot back to traditional export markets or markets they haven't seen before, and again, they are doing that in an incredibly rapid way."

Mr McConnel said one of greatest threats to food production in the region right now was the possibility of having COVID-19 in the workplace of those producing the food.

"We continue to ask our food producers to make sure they have contingency plans in place to ensure they have an active workforce, even if one staff member returns with a positive reading," he said

"We do not want to see our food businesses shut down, and in particular our animal-based businesses.

"It's vital that businesses either create or review their contingency plans to make sure they are well prepared for any situation."

Red meat here to stay

22 November 2019

Keeping red meat on the plates of consumers was the underlying theme across Day 3 of Red Meat 2019, from the industry breakfast through to each of the forums. Here’s a summary of the day.

Plenty of food for thought

At the industry breakfast chaired by MLA Chief Marketing, Communications and Industry Insights Officer, Lisa Sharp, speakers and panellists discussed the importance of maintaining and building consumer trust and how the industry can effectively tell its story.

Attendees also heard the latest insights from Project Daisy, which benchmarks consumer attitudes and behaviours to red meat across metropolitan Australia.

Project Daisy is conducted by strategic consultancy firm Pollinate on behalf of MLA, and Pollinate CEO Howard Parry-Husbands discussed its results and implications for the industry.

He said the number of consumers shifting to a vegetarian diet remains relatively stable at 7.6%, but more than 75% of vegetarians classify themselves as ‘flexi’ and are open to the possible inclusion of meat in their diet.

“Our research also shows there’s relatively little negativity towards the red meat industry; however, consumers are confused and red meat eaters are conflicted about their choices,” Howard said.

“The industry needs to reassure people it’s ok to keep eating red meat, and establish a narrative with clear goals that shows how red meat is part of the solution to consumer concerns about issues such as the environment.”

He also urged the industry not to engage in the politics of conflict with opponents to the red meat industry, such as vegan activists.

A panel session including Queensland beef producers, Michael and Michelle Lyons, and sports nutrition and dietitian, Peter Carige, discussed how the industry could better share red meat’s story to eliminate environmental and health concerns.

Domestic growth opportunities

With the domestic market being the largest and most valuable destination for Australian red meat, the focus on market growth opportunities at home was fitting for the first session of the Global Markets Forum.

Attendees were given insight into the story of Jim’s Jerky, an Australian family-owned and operated business that spotted a growth opportunity and set about blazing a trail into the relatively unknown market segment of beef snacks.

Jim’s Jerky CEO Emily Pullen outlined the challenges they faced starting out in what was then a very limited market.

“When we started out in 2004, jerky was a relatively unfamiliar product to most consumers, and the existing products on the market were full of sugar, highly processed and manufactured overseas,” Emily said.

“So, by attending hundreds of events and field days and offering free samples, we set about telling our story and educating consumers as to what good jerky could taste like.

“Beef jerky isn’t the cheapest snack on the market, which means we need to stay focused on what our consumers want and demonstrating real value to them, whether that’s the nutritional, provenance or diversity value of the product.”

The forum was book-ended by presentations from MLA’s Market Intelligence Manager, Scott Tolmie, and Domestic Market Manager, Graeme Yardy, who outlined both the domestic challenges and opportunities present for the red meat industry.

Target premium markets

At the second session of the Global Markets Forum, former Federal Minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Robb AO, who is now Chair of The Robb Group, said he was bullish about the future for the red meat industry, particularly in the Asian Century.

“I can’t see the explosion in demand for protein diminishing in the near future,” Andrew said.

“Our trade agreements give us a measure of protection, and our disease-free status gives us a measure of protection.”

Andrew cited the growth in incomes of millennials – 28–34-year-olds – as a prime opportunity for the industry.

“There are 800 million millennials across Asia, and 300 million of them are in China. Two-thirds of those millennials are in the middle class already,” Andrew said.

“We have a premium product and we need to be in premium markets. The industry has to have a clear vision that we will be at the premium end of the market.”

Demonstrating sustainability

The final forum session of Red Meat 2019 brought together a theme that had regularly come up across the three-day event in Tamworth, relating to sustainability and how the red meat industry can better communicate its credentials in this space.

The forum, Why demonstrating sustainability is critical to all red meat businesses from paddock to plate, featured an overview of why sustainability is important to the red meat sector from MLA Manager – Sustainability Communications, Sarah Hyland, along with presentations from Rabobank’s Denoven Ellis and McDonald’s Sustainable Sourcing Global Lead on Beef, Dr Nicola Robinson.

With more than 37,000 restaurants and serving over 69 million people each day, Dr Robinson highlighted how McDonald’s was using its scale for good.

“With the size of our supply chain, we have an opportunity to make an enormous difference. We believe delicious food is sustainable, and one of our five global priorities is beef sustainability,” Dr Robinson said.

“This means we partner with producers around the world, to work out local definitions of beef sustainability and seek to scale up sustainable beef production in these places.”

Another clear message of the forum was that sustainable performance needs proof, and this was reinforced by Jenny O’Sullivan, a Gippsland producer and member of the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework steering committee.

“As an industry, the most effective way for us to push back against criticism is with transparency – we need to fight with facts and be honest about where we’re at as an industry,” Jenny said.

“The Australian Beef Sustainability Framework defines sustainability, and reports on how we’re tracking to meet our goals.”

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RED MEAT 2019: Jim’s Jerky helping Aussie beef bite into snack market

James Nason, November 20, 2019

 

A family owned business is playing a leading role in helping to grow Australian beef’s share of the protein snacking market.

Within the growing global snack segment, products described as containing protein are growing at a rate of 22 percent, Jim’s Jerky CEO Emily Pullen told the Red Meat 2019 forum on Wednesday.

15 years ago Emily’s parents, Jim and Cathie Tanner who had a Droughtmaster operation in Central Queensland with a feedlot supplying Woolworths, bought a small butcher shop on the western outskirts of Toowoomba.

Surprised at the amount of additives and highly processed nature of existing jerky products they started making and selling their own.

They found the key to selling their product was to get consumers to sample it first, so exhibited at field days and markets around the country and selling online.

After building a national profile for their Jim’s Jerky brand they have since made the decision to expand from a direct selling to a retail model, with their jerky products now sold through Woolworths, Coles and independent supermarkets around the country.

They still exhibit at field days, which also provides an invaluable opportunity to continually gain direct consumer feedback and to test new products and packaging.

From the close level of engagement they have with consumers, Ms Pullen said that despite all the noise about fake meat it was clear “consumers love beef”.

Ms Pullen said the protein snacking market has considerable growth potential in Australia.

In the United States 14 percent of snacks are beef, but in Australia the figure is around 2 percent, she said.

Within the protein snacking category, where health is a key driver, not all products are created equal.

“We have the number one protein with iron,” she said.

“Better-for-you snacking is not a big ball of sugar, it is Australian beef in a packet.”

Ms Pullen told the forum the operation sources lean butt cuts and topside to make its beef jerky, with low intramuscular fat and low interconnective tissue.

“If you use budget cuts, you get budget jerky,” she said.

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Queensland’s Emily Pullen the cattle industry’s 2019 Rising Champion

Cattle Council of Australia president Howard Smith with the 2019 Rising Champion Emily Pullen.

 Cattle Council of Australia president Howard Smith with the 2019 Rising Champion Emily Pullen

QUEENSLAND’S  Emily Pullen may not be in the business of running cattle but she certainly has beef running through her veins.

The 2019 NAB Agribusiness Rising Champion heads up her family’s successful business Jim’s Jerky, near Toowoomba, and has enormous faith in the future of the beef industry – for all of those along the supply chain.

An initiative of Cattle Council of Australia, the prestigious event targets the next generation of advocates for the cattle industry whose talent and vision can be harnessed to enable the sector to respond to future market and consumers trends.

At a gala dinner in Canberra tonight attended by the who’s who of the Australian beef industry, the young executive picked up the title ahead of an extremely high-calibre field of state finalists.

The fact Ms Pullen was not a producer spoke volumes about the industry’s modern day determination to work together to meet consumer demands and realise the potential of Australian beef, many of those at the event agreed.

A trained agronomist who has also traveled overseas to further her education in food production, Ms Pullen said the direct relationship her business had with consumers provided a very good opportunity to  deliver feedback and information in both directions.