Grab a pack of Byron Jerky from Woolworths, Coles, Dan Murphy’s, 7-Eleven, your local servo, or one of the hundreds of independent stores and vending machines we supply, and you’re doing more than picking a high-protein snack for your glovebox. You’re backing an Australian supply chain, end to end.
Pretty cool, right? We agree.
Not every “Aussie” jerky is actually Australian
Here’s the part a lot of shoppers don’t realise: plenty of the jerky brands filling supermarket shelves aren’t Australian-made, and some aren’t even Australian-owned either. The beef can be sourced overseas through supply chains that are hard to trace, and the profits can flow straight back offshore. A pack can carry a kangaroo on the label or an Aussie-sounding name and still have very little to do with Australia beyond where it’s sold.
Byron Jerky is different.
We’re 100% Australian-owned and made. Yep, we make every batch ourselves in our own facility in the Byron Hinterland, and we source our beef from Australian farms. Read more about why every pack of Byron Jerky is made with grass-fed beef from Aussie farms here.
Owning the whole process, start to finish
Because we don’t outsource production, we control every part of the process, from which farms we buy from, to how the beef is trimmed and marinated, to how it’s dried and packed. This is both a supply chain choice and a quality one, because when something isn’t right, we can trace exactly where in the process to fix it, rather than chasing down answers from a contract manufacturer on the other side of the world.
Plenty of “Australian” brands on the shelf are actually made under contract by third-party manufacturers, sometimes several times removed from the name on the packet. However, what you’re buying from us is what we’ve actually made, by our own hands.
What your purchase actually supports
Buying local, while making you feel good, has a real, traceable effect:
- Regional farmers get paid for beef raised to our welfare and quality standards, instead of that money skipping the border and going overseas.
- Australian jobs stay in Australia, since every pack is sliced, marinated and packed by our own team, not outsourced.
- Local standards apply, so our beef and our facility are held to Australia’s food safety regulations at every step, because that’s where it’s actually made.
And since we’re an Australian company, our profits and our tax stay here too, going back into the regional economy instead of into the pockets of shareholders overseas.
How to tell if a jerky brand is genuinely Australian
The packaging doesn’t always make it obvious. A kangaroo graphic or a name that sounds like it belongs on a ute isn’t proof of anything – that’s actually pretty “good” marketing, and it’s cheap to apply regardless of where a product is actually made. However, if you want to know if a product is truly Aussie made – here’s what’s worth checking instead:
- Look for the Australian Made logo (the green-and-gold kangaroo-in-a-triangle), which is independently certified and means what it says, or
- Check the fine print on the back of pack for “Made in Australia from local and imported ingredients” versus “Made in Australia from 100% Australian ingredients” because they sound similar and yet mean very different things.
If a brand’s “about us” page can’t tell you where its facility actually is, that’s usually the answer in itself.
Backing Australian agriculture beyond the paddock
Regional beef farming doesn’t run on certainty, because drought, market swings and rising input costs all put pressure on the farmers we rely on. Steady demand from businesses like ours gives those farms a more reliable buyer to plan around, which matters more in tough seasons than it does in good ones.
It’s just a small part of a much bigger picture, but consistent local demand is one of the things that helps keep regional farming communities viable for the next generation, not just this one.
From farm to pack, all Australian
Our jerky starts its journey in regional paddocks, with grass-fed cattle raised without artificial hormones. From there, the beef comes to our facility, where we air-dry, season and pack it ourselves using our own spice blends. There’s no outsourcing, and no shortcuts. We’re still a genuinely small operation behind the scenes, and are run by people who’d rather get it right than get it fast.
Support small, all the way
Every pack of Byron Jerky you grab off the shelf is a small vote for where your food comes from. It’s for the farmer who raised the beef, the Australians who made it, and the high standards it was held to along the way. Choose Australian-made products like ours, and you’ll get real food, with real taste.
Find your nearest stockist and give our Australian Beef Jerky a try.
