Local company's Beef Jerky on Continental flights
Monday, September 27, 2010
Local company hits the big
time with 'Wild Ride' Beef Jerky
U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-Bainbridge Township) today
honored Weaver Meats of Painesville for being selected by
Continental Airlines as its new vendor for beef jerky.
The small, family-owned business just shipped its first monthly
order of more than 50,000 packages of jerky.
"From family butcher shop to beef jerky plant to perhaps serving
their beef jerky on the largest airline in the world - only in
America," LaTourette said.
LaTourette said he was approached last summer by
Mentor-on-the-Lake Mayor John Rogers, who relayed a story about
eating beef jerky made in Brazil on a Continental flight from
Denver to Cleveland. The mayor wanted to know if the
congressman knew anyone at Continental Airlines, suggesting that
Weaver Meats in Painesville pitch their "Made in the USA" jerky to
the airline.
LaTourette set the process in motion and helped put the company
in touch with the airline. Continental initially rejected
Weaver Meats' proposal because they couldn't compete on price, but
urged the company to renew their efforts in 2010. Weaver
Meats was persistent, and soon their Wild Ride jerky will be
featured on Continental's new in-flight menu and be available on
flights between 2.5 and 6 hours long.
"The stars aligned for this to happen, and Weaver Meats has a
guardian angel in Mayor Rogers," LaTourette said. "Thank
goodness the mayor was so bored that he took the time to study the
label on the beef jerky, and bravo to him for thinking of Weaver
Meats. Not many mayors would go out the way to help a small
business that left their city."
Continental will unveil its new in-flight snack menu to the
national media today and Weaver Meats' Wild Ride jerky will appear
alongside popular brands like m&ms, Pringles and Snyder's of
Hanover pretzels. The products will cost $1.50 to $8.25, and
the jerky will sell for $3.50.
During a huge economic downturn, Weaver Meats has added 5
full-time and 3 part-time workers to an existing workforce of 10,
and they provide health care. They've done this without
stimulus funding. They use their own recipes and make,
package and distribute jerky under several labels from their
Painesville plant. Their jerky is sold in Gander
Mountain stores and the Weaver brothers hope to ship more than
50,000 packages monthly to Continental, LaTourette said.
"This is a great story about the power of a small business, and
a testament that if you are persistent, great things can happen,
even during tough economic times," LaTourette said. "It's all
about jobs these days and this company created jobs, and didn't
need stimulus funding to do so."
LaTourette said Mayor Rogers has known Mike and Dave
Weaver for many years. They used to operate a butcher shop in
his city but closed when Weaver Meats decided to focus on jerky and
built their plant in Painesville. They started the butcher
shop in 1981, and opened in Painesville in 1997. They
selected Painesville because the city-operated power plant provides
electricity at a 35% savings. They have used the county's One Stop
job service to hire workers.
To reach Weaver Meats, call 440- 639-1954 or toll free at
(888) 56-JERKY.