Dive Brief:
- Perky Jerky, a gourmet brand of dried meat products, is pushing hard into Asian markets.
- The Colorado company says its has signed distribution deals that placed its products to 220 retailers in South Korea and Japan starting in October.
- The company says it plans to enter the Chinese market in January. The move comes 10 months after rival Jack Link's made a major push into European markets.
Dive Insight:
You have to hand it to Perky Jerky, which is one of the leaders in the effort to re-imagine jerky as something other than a low-end, nitrate-riddled product sold in convenience stores.
Winning favor in Asia may be more of a challenge than doing so in Whole Foods or Target, however. Asian consumers already think of jerky as a high-end product, and communities there often have fresh jerky stores where it is prepared by hand and sold in takeout bags.