Doritos-Flavored Jerky Is On The Horizon From Jack Link's
Convenience store snack lovers, rejoice! Two snack food heavy-hitters are teaming up to make a unique collaboration: Doritos and Jack Link's beef jerky have plans to create two new flavors of chip-inspired jerky. Originally announced in 2022 at the National Association of Convenience Stores conference, Jack Link's has affirmed that it is indeed moving forward with the new flavors.
For the most part, Jack Link's products are what you would expect. There's beef jerky, beef steak, beef sticks, pork bites, and several snack packs that include both meat and cheese, plus some more creative options like spicy dill pickle-flavored bloody mary mix. Doritos, a brand under the FritoLay arm of Pepsico, has numerous offerings, mostly in chips and crunchy snacks, but also has a new Doritos-flavored dip.
One of FritoLay's strategies has included dusting a multitude of products, like popcorn, peanuts, and kettle chips, in its recognizable chip flavorings, so it's right on brand to do the same with beef jerky. In fact, Parth Raval, chief growth officer of PepsiCo told Food Dive, "There's a master brand here called Doritos that has the ability, credibility to extend into other parts of the snacking universe that makes sense." Expanding into other snacks like pretzels, crackers, the Doritos Locos Tacos, and yes, meat snacks, is part of a new strategy to grow far beyond its core products.
What are the new Jack Link's flavors going to be?
The flavors for the Jack Link's products are going to be Spicy Sweet Chili and Flamin' Hot. That purple-bagged Sweet Chili chip is definitely one of the most popular Doritos flavors. This sweet, slightly spicy, and pleasantly tangy flavor is going to be a hit for jerky fans who typically reach for the mild or teriyaki flavors. The other option, Flamin' Hot, is definitely aimed at the heat-seekers.
The Flamin' Hot flavor has not just been incorporated into a wide array of chips; it's also appeared in products like macaroni and cheese, peanuts, and pork skins — there's even Mountain Dew Flamin' Hot. It has also been used on FritoLay's own brand of meat snacks, Matador, and received rave customer reviews, which bodes well for the new partnership.
Parth Raval, PepsiCo's chief growth officer, sees a lot of potential in the meat snacks market and says the Jack Link's collaboration is really only the start. "We've got a lineup planned in the meat-based arena," he tells Food Dive. Who knows what salty snack is going to show up next on convenience store shelves? Though there is no official release date for the Spicy Sweet Chili and Flamin' Hot beef jerkys, the two companies say the new products will be released in 2023.