This week, Frito-Lay started distributing and selling MATADOR by Jack Link’s, a new line of meat snacks aimed at young adults. I attended a Town Hall all-employee meeting at the Frito-Lay Plano, Texas, headquarters office earlier this week to hear about the agreement between Frito-Lay and Jack Link’s and this new snack.
I’m no stranger to the Frito-Lay Town Hall meetings, all-hands style meetings where Al Carey, Frito-Lay's Chairman and CEO, shares business updates and previews upcoming events and programs with employees several times a year. This week, the agreement between Frito-Lay and Jack Link's, the No. 1 brand of meat snacks in the U.S., was one of the main topics, since Frito-Lay began selling it this week. The MATADOR line of meat jerky and sticks leverages our direct store delivery system, in which our more than 18,000 frontline salespeople sell, deliver and merchandise our snacks at more than 350,000 retailers every week, with the quality, great-tasting meat snacks Jack Link’s is known for.
During the Town Hall meeting, Jack Link, Chairman and CEO of Jack Link’s, shared his family’s story about being in the meat business for four generations. Almost 25 years ago, Jack and his sons decided to go into the beef jerky business after trying another company’s beef jerky during a hunting trip and deciding they could make something better tasting themselves.
The Jack Link’s company has a similar heritage to Frito-Lay -- both started as family businesses that sold high-quality snack foods. And, over time, both Jack Link’s and Frito-Lay have grown to be successful, diverse companies, whose products are available around the world. As a result of these similarities, the Jack Link’s culture is a lot like ours, and even one of its corporate principles fits right in at Frito-Lay: Do what your mother taught you to do. (My wife, Janis, agrees that this is also pretty sound advice for our own four children).
Jack’s son, Troy, the company’s president, spoke at Town Hall, too, sharing some details about the MATADOR line. He told us that MATADOR could be thought of as “the Doritos of meat snacks,” appealing to today's Millennials, specifically teen males. The products offer bold flavors and distinctive packaging, so they really stand out in stores. And, the products will be marketed through a variety of action sports programs and events (including the Dew Tour), which is where a lot of Millennials hang out.
I tried the MATADOR Original Beef Jerky, and it was delicious. The label was right: It has a bold flavor and tender bite -- it's not your traditional tough-to-chew jerky. And, it has 15 grams of protein in the 1.4-ounce serving bag -- with only 2 grams of fat -- for a total of 110 calories. Definitely a snack I will keep enjoying!
It was great to hear about this and other exciting things going on at Frito-Lay, but I had some mixed emotions being back in the Frito-Lay building for the Town Hall. Since I’ve been retired for six months now, it seemed strange for people to come up to me to say “hi” like I was a long-lost cousin, and I miss working with the wonderful people in Marketing on the innovative products that Frito-Lay plans to launch.
However, I realize that even though I miss the energy and creativity at Frito-Lay, I have a new exciting life as a retiree, and my days really are full with reading, photography, blogging, exercising and other activities. In reality, I don't know how I ever had time to work! What do you think of the new MATADOR meat snacks?
P.S. That's me in the picture above, with Frito-Lay's Chester Cheetah and Jack Link's Sasquatch, at the Town Hall meeting.
i love matador sticks man fav snack
Posted by: james | January 06, 2010 at 10:21 PM