Quick facts
| Founded | 1986 |
|---|---|
| Country | USA (Wisconsin) |
| Made by | Jack Link's (family-owned) |
| Dietary status | High-protein, low-carb, contains beef |
About Jack Link's
Jack Link's is the world's largest beef jerky brand, founded in 1986 in Wisconsin and still family-owned today. The product is air-dried, marinated, seasoned beef strips with high protein (10 to 13g per 25g bag), low carbs, and a long shelf life that needs no refrigeration. The UK range covers Original, Teriyaki and Sweet & Hot, all popular with fitness shoppers, road-trippers, and home-bar buyers looking for a serious savoury snack.
The 3 Jack Link's flavours we stock
Each pack is a single-flavour resealable bag of beef jerky strips.
| Flavour | Profile |
|---|---|
| Original | The brand's baseline recipe. Savoury beef with a balanced salt-and-spice seasoning, mildly sweet from the marinade. The benchmark flavour |
| Teriyaki | Asian-inspired marinade: soy sauce, sugar, ginger and garlic profile. Sweeter and more complex than Original, with the distinctive teriyaki umami |
| Sweet & Hot | Sweet caramelised marinade with a pronounced chilli heat finish. The brand's most flavour-forward variant |
What makes Jack Link's different
Three points worth knowing about the brand and the format.
- High protein, low fat, low carb: a 25g bag typically delivers 10 to 13g protein, 1 to 3g fat, and around 5g carbs. This protein-to-calorie ratio is meaningfully better than crisps, chocolate or biscuits, which is why beef jerky has a strong following among fitness shoppers, low-carb dieters and shoppers tracking macros.
- Long shelf life, no refrigeration: the drying and curing process means the bags can sit in a desk drawer, gym bag or hiking pack for months unopened. Once opened, the resealable bags maintain quality for a week or two.
- Brand size and scale: Jack Link's is the world's largest beef jerky producer, which means consistent product quality and reliable distribution. Smaller artisan jerky brands can deliver better-quality meat at a higher price point; Jack Link's delivers the mass-market category benchmark.
Ingredients and allergens
Representative ingredient list for Jack Link's Original Beef Jerky:
Beef, Sugar, Salt, Spices, Yeast Extract, Maltodextrin, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite. Contains soy.
Allergen profile: contains soy as a direct ingredient (soy sauce in the marinade). May contain milk, wheat and sesame from shared production lines. Not vegetarian or vegan (beef is the primary ingredient). Not formally halal certified for the UK market, although Jack Link's does produce halal-certified jerky for specific regional markets; check the back of the individual pack and the country of origin printed on the bag. Contains nitrite preservatives (sodium nitrite, sodium erythorbate) which some shoppers avoid. Not gluten-free as a certified claim due to shared facility production; always verify on the pack if coeliac.
Who Jack Link's is for
High-protein snack buyers: the protein-to-calorie ratio is genuinely better than most savoury snacks. If you're tracking macros for fitness, low-carb dieting or keto, Jack Link's fits the brief.
Road trip and travel snackers: the long shelf life and no-refrigeration storage makes Jack Link's the standard road-trip snack in the US. Same logic works for UK long drives, train journeys and hiking days.
Pub snack alternative buyers: beef jerky pairs naturally with beer and ale, similar to pork scratchings but with a different texture and lower fat content. Sits alongside our Coan pork scratchings in the savoury bar-snack category.
American snacks cross-shoppers: works in a basket alongside our wider American snacks range, particularly imported Lay's and Pringles.
Buy Jack Link's online in the UK
All 3 Jack Link's flavours stocked. UK supermarket distribution has expanded significantly since the brand's UK launch: Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose and Co-op all typically stock at least the Original variant. The deeper flavour catalogue (Teriyaki, Sweet & Hot, plus seasonal limited editions) is less consistently stocked on supermarket shelves. Build the basket past £20 to qualify for free UK delivery. Three to four packs takes you over the threshold easily. Orders placed before our daily cut-off are dispatched the same working day.
Jack Link's UK: frequently asked questions
Is Jack Link's halal?
Jack Link's beef jerky sold in UK retail is not formally halal certified. The product contains beef as the primary ingredient, and standard UK and US production does not use halal-slaughtered meat. Jack Link's does produce halal-certified jerky for specific regional markets (notably parts of the Middle East and South-East Asia), but those certified variants are not part of the standard UK retail catalogue. Halal-keeping shoppers should look at certified halal beef jerky brands such as Hidden Valley Foods, Mr Jerky Halal, or other specialist halal meat-snack brands rather than the standard Jack Link's range.
How long does Jack Link's beef jerky last?
Unopened Jack Link's bags typically have a 6 to 9 month shelf life from the date of manufacture, with the best-before date printed on the back of the bag. Once opened, the resealable bag maintains quality for around 5 to 7 days at room temperature. No refrigeration is needed before or after opening, although storing in a cool dry place extends post-opening shelf life. The long shelf life is what makes jerky the standard road-trip and hiking snack.
What's the protein content of Jack Link's beef jerky?
A standard 25g bag of Jack Link's Original delivers approximately 10 to 13g of protein, with around 1 to 3g of fat and around 5g of carbs. The exact macros vary slightly by flavour (Teriyaki carries more sugar and slightly fewer protein grams per bag; Sweet & Hot is similar). The protein-to-calorie ratio is meaningfully better than most savoury snacks, which is why beef jerky has a strong following among fitness shoppers and macro-tracking dieters.
Why is Jack Link's so popular?
Three reasons. First, the format: beef jerky is high protein, low fat, low carb, long shelf life, and needs no refrigeration, which makes it a unique category position in the wider snacks aisle. Second, the brand's scale: Jack Link's is the world's largest beef jerky producer, which means consistent quality and reliable distribution. Third, the marketing: the "Messin' With Sasquatch" Bigfoot campaign has been running since 2006 and is one of the more recognisable American snack ad campaigns, building global brand awareness well past the US home market.