Tiger Buck jerky to fill gap in premium drinking snacks market
Entrepreneur, Benjamin Cairns told BakeryandSnacks the focus in the bar trade tends to be around constructing wine and beer lists, with snack options almost always forgotten.
This he says, is where the major opportunity lies though, as consumers view meat bar snacks as a healthier option over traditional ones, which often leads to an increased spend-per-head on drinks.
“I noticed that the industry spends amazing amounts of money on back-bars and store/venue fit-outs and that progressive non-supermarket focused snacks is such a credible space to seed and build brand equity and instigate trial,” Cairns told this publication.
Substance and style…
Tiger Buck has been without question, branded to stand out from the crowd, influenced by North American traditional playing cards used in saloons on historical drama TV series, Frontier.
The jerky itself is comprised of 100% raw, unprocessed Australian Beef, free from artificial flavours or colors and is endorsed by Coeliac Australia as a certified Gluten Free product.
“The fact that jerky is high in protein, low in fat, and doesn’t have any nasties is a great story to tell consumers,” added Cairns.
Aussie jerky demand gains momentum
While jerky is a popular snack in the US, this publication wondered if there’s still a way to go to see real demand in Australia where consumers don’t tend to reach for cold meat-based snacks as easily.
According to Euromonitor International data, Australia ranks 26th in the world in terms of market size for ‘Other Savoury Snacks’, a segment that includes meat snacks such as beef jerky.
In 2016, Australia’s sales in this category totalled US $57.7 million while the US firmly held onto the number one spot with sales amounting to US $5.4 billion.
However, the ambitious entrepreneur assures BakeryandSnacks that Aussie demand for these products is definitely growing.
“As consumers become more health-conscious, they’re chasing snacks that are healthier, and I think that’s one of the key drivers behind the category’s growth,” he explained.
Future aspirations for the brand includes introducing Tiger Buck to Europe as co-founder and London based Australian, Chris Laidlaw is already busy working on the strategy.
“The idea behind Tiger Buck is to grow the entire category, and introduce new consumers to the jerky and to do this, we’re looking at routes-to-market that Jerky hasn’t historically explored,” Cairns concluded.
