Beefy takeover

The workmates purchased Trailhead Fine Foods from Jason and Nilgun Howard of Welshpool and are committed to growing the business and developing the ‘Get Jerky’ brand of beef jerky snacks.

Beef jerky is air-dried strips of beef that is first marinated for flavour.

Trailhead Fine Foods was launched seven years ago by Kevin Bigland of Cradley Heath who sold the business in 2013 to Mr and Mrs Howard who rebranded and further developed the company, leading to coveted Great Taste Awards in 2016 for the Original and Spicy Chilli Beef Jerky flavours.

Now Arwyn and Ramos have big plans to take the business to the next level and are basing production at the WMO centre in Welshpool, initially creating two jobs. The company already has a growing list of online customers through http://www.trailheadfinefoods.co.uk which the new owners hope to expand.

Trailhead Fine Foods received an enthusiastic response from potential new customers when it promoted its range of beef jerky products at the Speciality and Fine Food Fair at Olympia, London earlier this month. The company exhibited under the Cymru/Wales banner at the event with the support of Welsh Government.

“We were delighted with the response at Speciality and Fine Food Fair where we had more than 100 sales leads from potential customers, ranging from farm shops and restaurants to national retailers,” said Arwyn.

The company is also negotiating a series of partnership deals this autumn, including supplying complementary packs of its beef jerky snack products to more than 2,000 marshals at next month’s Dayinsure Wales Rally GB.

Aberdyfi rally driver Tom Cave and co-driver James Morgan, from Hirwaun, will also be promoting the ‘Get Jerky’ brand on their Hyundai i20 R5 during the rally.

“Jason and Nilgun have done a great job to grow the business and we are grateful to him for sharing his knowledge and passion for beef jerky with us,” said Arwyn.

“We will continue to make the same premium beef jerky products in exactly the same way, but we are also keen to develop an exciting range of new and different jerky products and flavours.

“Trailhead Fine Foods currently makes jerky from a single cut of beef, but there are opportunities to diversify and use different cuts and different meats as well as gluten free products in the future. There is huge potential.

“Our aim is to increase exposure of the brand and to develop partnership relationships with wholesalers and distributers. Ramos and I share Jason’s passion and we believe in the product so much that we left good jobs with our previous employer to take Trailhead Fine Foods forward.”

"Beef jerky is marinated strips of air-dried beef in a range of flavours which is a high protein snack alternative to crisps, nuts and sweets. Only the leanest prime cuts of beef are selected and marinated in carefully blended ingredients for a minimum of 24 hours to allow the complete penetration of flavour into the meat."