Country Archer Jerky Co., the fastest growing jerky brand in the natural channel, has raised $10 million from Monogram Capital Partners, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm focused on growth consumer and retail investments. The new capital infusion marks the third investment Monogram has made in the vertically integrated brand and will enable Country Archer to more than double production capacity at its Southern California-based facility to support exploding consumer demand for its line of clean, gourmet meat snacks.
A heritage brand that first began crafting gourmet jerky more than 30 years ago, Country Archer makes all its jerky at its 30,000 square foot manufacturing plant in San Bernardino. Here the savory aromas of slowly cooked and marinated grass-fed beef and antibiotic-free turkey fill the air daily. More than 100 local employees comprise the production team responsible for creating the brand’s signature, irresistibly delicious meat snacks. The recent move to pursue a new round of investment with the sole focus of increasing this production capacity was made following a record year of growth for Country Archer in Q1-Q3 of 2018.
“What we do at Country Archer is so much more than selling and marketing beef jerky; we are helping to keep the craft of artisan jerky alive by slow cooking our meats in small batches every single day,” said Eugene Kang, CEO & Co-founder at Country Archer Jerky Co. “Having our own dedicated facility and in-house team are critical components to our success as it enables us to capture better gross margins and increase efficiency while of course controlling the quality of every ingredient and the final product. We’re beyond thankful for our partners at Monogram who’ve believed in our mission to change the way people think about meat snacks and are excited about how this new round of funding will enable us to scale quickly and increase production capacity wise.”
Already the #1 jerky brand in the natural channel, Country Archer recently achieved an incredible 25,000+ distribution points across the U.S., in addition to launching in Canada for the first time, and unveiling new Meat Bars in June. The bars were met with immediate positive response going into distribution with retailers like Target, Sprouts, Lucky’s Market, Raley’s, Natural Grocers, Town and Country Markets, New Seasons Market, 7-Eleven and many more. The brand was also named one of the fastest growing companies in 2018 on the Inc. 5000 list.
“While the jerky aisle has become increasingly crowded, a clear separation has emerged in terms of those brands that are driving outsized velocities relative to peers through elevated quality and repeat customer loyalty – and no one is doing this better than Country Archer,” said Jared Stein, Founder & Partner at Monogram Capital Partners. “This is our third investment in the brand and we strongly believe this will help Country Archer further separate from the pack and bring to market some exciting new innovation that is already well underway. The ability to double production capacity in-house is a game changer for Country Archer, who is seeing accelerated velocities consistently across all of its major retailer partners.”
Source: Country Archer Jerky
