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Wharton grads debut Perky Jerky, a performance-enhancing meat snack
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
Wharton grads debut Perky Jerky, a performance-enhancing meat snack
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Performance Enhancing Meat Snack Company founders Brian Levin and Matt Keiser were riding the chairlift towards a day of skiing when they discovered that their breakfast package of beef jerky had been soaked with energy drinks spilled during the previous night's revelry. Undeterred, the pair consumed the dried beef anyway, and soon realized that the caffeinated liquid had added both an undeniable boost and appealing tenderness to the bark-like strips. Perky Jerky had been born.
"A true story," Levin assured me over the phone. "That was the inspiration, anyway." Levin and Keiser, who met as undergrads at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, realized they "wanted to make a cool and special product" and spent four years perfecting the recipe for Perky Jerky. "We marinate the beef in eight ingredients, one of which is guarana, a sort of Brazilian fruit cousin of the coffee bean which is naturally caffeinated," Levin explained. "It's only available in "original" flavor now -- a sort of teriyaki -- but Turkey Perky Jerky is coming soon." Each one-ounce serving of jerky has 60 mgs. of caffeine (for comparison, a Red Bull has 80 mgs.), but since it is metabolized with protein, "the energy curve is steadier and lasts longer," says Levin. "There's no sugar crash."
The partners, who live in Colorado, have focused on markets in skiing areas so far, but are eager to break into Philadelphia. "We're looking for stores to carry it in Philly," said Levin. "I so miss the Philly food trucks, and I can't find a decent pretzel anywhere else on earth."
Perky Jerky can be purchased on the Web; local retailers who might like to carry the product can e-mail Brian[at]perkyjerky[dot]com.
Social comments and analytics for this post... This post was mentioned on Twitter by mealticket: Wharton grads improve beef jerky the only way possible -- by caffeinating it. http://bit.ly/d66u99...
[...] Gordon, Random 2/22/201011:12 pm The story is simple. Two dudes were on a ski trip and their energy drinks spilled into their stash of beef jerky, so they did what any human being would do and still ate the hell out of that jerky with no hesitation. As the result, they found themselves with an extra pep in their step, all while enjoying the now extra tender meat leather. Gentlemen, I give you: Perky Jerky. [...]
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