‘Category Is On Fire’: Meat Snack Makers Go Deeper In Sticks

Hungry carnivores walking the halls of Expo West didn’t have to look far when searching for a meat snack. One theme was echoed by nearly all the category’s exhibitors: meat sticks are driving sales momentum.

Meat snack makers and jerky brands all seem to be moving deeper into sticks as sales continue to grow in retail. But where is that momentum coming from?

Better-for-you brands in the natural channel are moving the needle most dramatically, said Righteous Felon founder and CEO Brendan Cawley. Better-for-you meat sticks sales were up 54% year-over-year in 2024, in comparison to a 3% decline in conventional sticks, according to NielsenIQ data provided to Righteous Felon.

The opportunity created in the natural channel by these better-for-you meat snack brands has opened the door to more mass and conventional retailers as well as brands aligning even more to low-sugar, clean ingredient and sustainability trends.

Clean Labels

Alongside the rebrands of Archer (formerly Country Archer Provisions) and New Primal, others were changing up their packaging. Brooklyn Biltong refreshed some of its jerky SKUs to better communicate its zero sugar credentials. The company also is putting out a multipack of biltong sticks, a rare format for the South African air-dried beef variety.

Starwalker Organic Farms brought its three SKUs of meat sticks (Original Craft, Smoked & Spice and Jalapeño Cheddar) to the show. The Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) producer and meat processor already made a line of beef jerky, but as it expands from ecommerce, it sees ROC meat sticks as a way to set itself apart in retail.

LK (formerly Lorissa’s Kitchen) is using top nine allergen-free ingredients as its differentiator. Owned by Jack Link’s parent, Link Snacks, LK has always positioned itself more towards natural channel consumers, using no sugar in its grassfed beef sticks. The brand did a packaging refresh in the last two years to push its certification to be free of the top nine allergens.

“Certifications drive the natural channel,” said Alexandria Ellis, Jack Link’s director of sales. “Consumers love to see that trust on the pack.”

LK recently expanded its club footprint in Costco and is readying to launch into about 2,000 Walmart doors in April.

Smaller Sticks Drive Brand Awareness

Another theme pushed by many meat snack brands is marketing towards parents who buy meat sticks for their families. A successful approach has been launching products that cater to this need. From category leader Chomps’ Chompling ministicks to Vermont Smoke & Cure’s variety packs, an abundance of smaller format sticks makes the snack accessible to younger consumers and opens up brand awareness among adults who then make purchases for themselves.

For Vermont Smoke & Cure, another way into more households has been its turkey SKUs. The meat snack manufacturer makes four varieties of turkey sticks with its Uncured Pepperoni flavor one of its top-sellers across the portfolio, the brand reported.

Opportunity In Poultry

The Vermont-based brand is not the only meat stick maker seeing a growing opportunity in poultry. Nick’s Sticks has steadily seen its chicken sticks sales increase in the last year, and New Primal is expecting poultry to eventually reach about 25% of the category sales.

When private equity-owned Mighty Spark entered the meat snack category, the white space was in poultry and the brand has continued to grow selling solely chicken sticks. On the back of that success, Mighty Spark is entering all Costco locations this summer, a brand spokesperson reported.

Despite demand growing in poultry, some brands did report that sourcing has become more challenging as bird flu continues to hamper some chicken and turkey producers.

With better-for-you meat stick sales growing across channels, even brands in adjacent categories are jumping into the fray. Salmon snack brand Surfsnax said demand and margins had influenced its decision to pivot from jerky to sticks, while plant-based meat maker Before the Butcher brought its own two stick SKUs (pepperoni-style and beef-style) to Expo West using sunflower protein.

For Righteous Felon – which makes jerky, biltong and meat sticks – exhibiting for its first time at Expo West after about 12 years in business was based on showing off its newest meat sticks and capitalizing on the 80% sales gains the company has made in the last few years, said Cawley.

“The category is on fire, and our brand is on fire. Every year it gets more competitive, so it just seemed like the right time to showcase the brand.”