Jack Link’s EMEA

At Jack Link’s they like to ‘Feed your wild side’. With a wide array of delicious, high-quality protein snacks they cater to the adventurous spirit in all of us. This global leader in the protein snack category is a family of brands that include Jack Link’s, BiFi, Peperami and Minuets. Their goal is to become the number one in branded protein snacks. As strong brand believers and brand builders with strong core values they are category creators, innovators and leaders.

The story of Jack Link’s starts with Jack’s great-grandfather Chris, who left Germany to make a new life in the US in 1885. He brought along delicious meat recipes that became legendary in no time to farmers and lumberjacks that tasted it. Producing tasty meat products soon turned out to be a new family tradition, that was successfully passed on from father to son. Decades later, this resulted in Jack Link’s trying out old family recipes to produce beef jerky while on a hunting trip with his son. Today, Jacks Link’s still is a family-owned company, with Jack and his son Troy working side by side to crafting high-quality, delicious protein snacks.

Their protein snacks – over a hundred products – are enjoyed by consumers all around the world. The company operates a total of eleven manufacturing and distribution facilities in four countries. In 2014 Jack Link’s acquired the BiFi and Peperami brands from Unilever, as well as a plant in Ansbach, Germany. An EMEA head office was established in the vibrant city of Amsterdam, which has been showing double-digit growth with a customer–centric and consumer–driven approach.

The company has a strong market position with BiFi in the Benelux, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Peperami in the UK, Jack Link’s across Europe and Minuets in Spain. Their current focus is to expand even further, with emerging markets like the Nordics showing great potential for growth. The company has also pinpointed chicken and plant-based snacks as important growth drivers. While maintaining a global perspective and ambition, they always manage and execute locally.

Company culture

The EMEA office is adopting Jack Link’s core values like be real, show awesome character, stewardship and accountability. The commercial team of about 70 employees – which has about 30 nationalities – operates sales driven and hands on. They like to grow fast and take calculated risks, because this has proven to be structurally profitable. The company is investment-oriented with long term horizons. They are hardworking team players with plenty of time for fun.

In an interview, Laura de Groot-Trivulzio from Jack Link’s shares her perspective on her work and vision. Read the interview.