“Use every scrap of food” is a restaurant dictum likely as old as places to eat outside the home. Eateries of all stripes try mightily to use every spoonful, slice, scoop and whatever else that comes through the back door on the way to your plate, your table. In fact, Donny Arnsperger of Walt’s has stated that the Art of Ordering and the waste that can grow out of that discipline often makes or breaks a restaurant enterprise.
Which brings us to capitalizing on that “every scrap” operating principle utilized at Walt’s Hitching Post. Arnsperger said this: “We go through a lot of steaks here; we butcher our own (cuts of steak) and there are scraps, trimmings, from the steak cuts — good, high-quality beef. So, we were trying to use it (the trimmings) in making burgers and chili and stuff like that, but there was just too much of it. Rather than see it go to waste, we donated it to food banks and other places (to help feed the hungry).
“Then I came up with the idea of making a product out of those trimmings, thinking we could make it into beef jerky. We already have Walt’s barbecue sauce that we sell (in jars) on the retail market, and maybe we could combine the sauce with a jerky product and have something unique in that market space. I started to research it, trying to find local resources to help us bring the idea to market.
Walt’s jarred barbecue sauce and steak bites retail packaging together
“We did a lot of research into it, looking at every aspect of it, the packaging, the jerky, the flavors, and textures, really everything about the products out there. We knew we could do better than what we saw out there, and bring on a product that was tasty and a better texture than what is on the shelves of stores. The packaging was not all that great, so we started working on all of it.”
Bronson Tribbi and Arnsperger, co-owners of Walt’s, put their heads together to come up with a name for their jerky product that had Jewish antecedents. They combined Arnsperger’s son’s name, Ari, along with Tribbi’s college roommate, a fellow named Jerkowitz, and now offer Ari Jerkowitz Original Steak Bites, a product with ties to Walt’s Hitching Post.
The research led to a company in Indiana to process and bag the jerky product for Walt’s. Also, they established a business relationship with Alan Greenberg, owner of Topicz, a distribution company based in Cincinnati. His distribution network covers five states, including Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. “We purchase it (the product) and warehouse it, and distribute it to our customers,” Greenberg stated. Those customers include independent convenience stores, liquor stores, hospital gift shops, gas stations, truck stops, and the like. “The product is excellent, and we love partnering with local companies to boost the local community,” Greenberg concluded.
Also, Tribbi and Arnsperger established a connection with Sam Baron, who operates Shop the King, an on-line e-commerce site. Go to that site, and you will find the Ari Jerkowitz product under snacks. “The product is on Amazon, too, so we have worldwide distribution,” Arnsperger stated.
“This jerky is really different. We release it in small batches. It’s not mass produced like some of the other stuff is. Plus, we are using quality cuts of beef. We want it to be top notch — sort of the filet mignon of beef jerky. There is a little spicy heat to the flavor. We’re in a craft culture today, and people want that in the products they buy. Ari Jerkowitz original steak bites gives them that,” he said.
The jerky steak bites on a plate
We at Dining Out tried the new jerky product from Walt’s, and Arnsperger is on point. The Walt’s brand of beef jerky is flavorful and spicy, with a pleasant after-burn to each bite. The steak strips fit the jerky profile but are more moist and not hard-work chewy to eat as are some jerky brands out there. In chewing Walt’s jerky, masticating it if you will, it’s an easy process that draws out the unique barbecue-spice flavor of the jerky. A great stack energy boost or between meals treat. But then, it’s conceptually from Walt’s kitchen, so what would one expect?
See you at Walt’s Hitching Post!
