Jerky Boyz is a Shanghai-based American style beef jerky company. They currently sell their products at local markets in Shanghai, and on Baopals of course! We spoke with Co-Founder Lightning Pace to learn more about the company and running your own business as a foreigner in China.
"My friend and I (two Americans) started this business by simply competing with each other to make the best beef jerky. We did a lot of experimenting with different ingredients, trying to find out what worked best. My friend even tried adding beer to his recipe. This was just for fun, but then we started getting real orders and requests, and it started to get too big to just do in our kitchen anymore. We then got our licensing and started mass producing.
We accidentally stumbled on making the Black Pepper flavor because we weren't sure if we had already added that to the marinade or not. We now have five different flavors: Applewood, Teriyaki, Black Pepper, Spicy and XX Spicy.
The most popular flavor is Applewood. Everyone has their own personal favorite; mine is Black Pepper.
The production starts with importing our wagyu beef. From there it needs to be thawed and all of the fat is cut off by hand. Then it goes through a meat slicer. We then add our marinade ingredients to the tumbler and mix it with the beef. It is then hand racked and dehydrated. After the dehydration process, it is then packed into individual packaging and ready for the customer.
The hardest part of running our business is finding the right marketing strategies and product placement. The best part is that we bring such a unique product here, and it's a great feeling to see how many people enjoy what we've created.
My advice to anyone that wants to start a business is to understand that you're playing the long game, and it can take years. So don't give up if you don't see the numbers you want right away."
Try some of their delicious beef jerky today! For gluten-free, vacuum-sealed, wholesale or other special requests please contact their customer service.
