From bankruptcy to a $51.7 billion empire: How one product saved a family business

Jack Link, once on the brink of bankruptcy, transformed his family's small meat business into a global snack empire, with 2025 U.S. retail sales alone exceeding $1.6 billion (approximately NT$51.7 billion).

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Apart from the first 15 minutes and perhaps also the first 20 minutes of the second half, I think we were in full control, even though we didn't always have the ball that much. But they didn't create anything, and we scored three good goals ourselves and had a couple more chances, so I think it looked quite stable.

In 1985, at age 40, Jack Link faced a dire situation. He had taken over a family-owned slaughterhouse that had filed for bankruptcy protection, threatening his wife and two children's livelihoods. A chance encounter with a convenience store beef jerky product sparked an idea. Leveraging his family's existing cattle farming, meat processing, and retail operations, he began producing his own beef jerky. The product quickly gained popularity, moving from the family's general store into supermarkets and convenience stores nationwide.

The company's significant growth was fueled by its ability to adapt to changing dietary trends. It successfully tapped into the high-protein diet movement of the 1990s, the Paleo diet in the 2010s, and more recently, the high-protein craze driven by GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. By the early 2000s, the company's annual revenue had already surpassed $300 million (approximately NT$9.7 billion).

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The company reported a 47% increase in annual sales within two years of the ads airing nationwide.

Jack's son, Troy Link, took over and propelled the brand's visibility through bold marketing campaigns. These advertisements transformed the brand from a simple meat snack into one with a distinct national identity. The company reported a 47% increase in annual sales within two years of the ads airing nationwide. The company has continued to expand through acquisitions and factory expansions, including a major manufacturing plant in Georgia. Despite rising beef prices, import costs due to U.S. tariffs, and competition from new "clean ingredient" brands, the Link family remains optimistic about future growth, aiming to double the company's size every decade.

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The company hopes to at least double its size every 10 years and continue expanding factories and launching new products globally.