Vincent Williams and Damiso Lockhart love beef jerky but aren't too excited about the options they can find at the local convenience store. That's why they started their own premium jerky company,
BlueOxJerky.
"It was sort of a hobby," Williams says. "We were both fans of jerky but most of what we found out there was mass produced and pretty poor."
Blue Ox Jerky tries to counter that as the slow-food version for smoked meats. The Troy-based company got its start last July, selling its jerky online. Today it has grown to the point where it ships is jerky all over North America. That growth has allowed the company to hire four employees and begin eyeing a traditional retail market presence.
"We have had pretty decent online sales for our product," Williams says. "We have doubled our revenue every month since the site went up."
Blue Ox Jerky started selling its wares online first because of the lower cost of entry to the market. Retail sales would follow after establishing its brand and creating a customer base. Look for the Blue Ox Jerky brand to begin hitting store shelves later this year.
Source: Vincent Williams, co-founder of Blue Ox Jerky
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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