Jack Link's is moving to undercut the premium-protein snack tier with two new multipack lines, pricing its Grass-Fed & Finished Beef Stick Multipacks roughly 20% below many leading better-for-you meat stick competitors, according to NielsenIQ data through September 12, 2026.

The Minong, Wisconsin–based snack giant — whose parent Link Snacks, Inc. operates across 11 countries — is betting that a value-forward positioning can capture share from specialty and natural-channel meat stick brands that have leaned on ingredient transparency to command elevated retail price points. The new lines land in Original, Teriyaki, and Jalapeño flavors for the beef stick, while the LiL' Links Mini Stick Multipacks — available in Grass-Fed Beef and Antibiotic-Free Turkey — arrive in 3-count and 6-count configurations.

The Protein Numbers

Each 0.92-ounce grass-fed beef stick delivers 8 grams of protein, matching the protein-to-ounce ratio that Jack Link's says competitors charge a premium to match. The LiL' Links mini sticks clock 5 to 6 grams of protein per stick with zero sugar, no added MSG, and no nitrates or nitrites — a clean-label spec that has become table stakes in the better-for-you snacking channel. For foodservice and c-store operators sourcing grab-and-go protein programs, the 10-count beef stick multipack and the 6-count mini stick format present obvious fixture and bundling options where high-velocity protein snacks anchor impulse sets.

Category & Competitive Context

The launches arrive as protein-forward snacking sustains one of the strongest growth curves in center-store food. Link Snacks' own commissioned research — the Protein Paradox survey, conducted via Talker Research — found that 61% of consumers would select meat as their sole protein source if forced to choose, and 58% trust meat snacks over protein bars or shakes for health benefits. Those sentiment numbers reinforce why mass, club, and convenience operators have steadily expanded meat snack door counts over the past three years, and why shelf-space competition has intensified between legacy stick brands and newer entrants priced above $2.00 per stick.

Lori David, VP of Integrated Marketing at Link Snacks, framed the launch as a direct challenge to the premium-pricing convention. "Too many brands have convinced people that 'premium' means paying more," David said. "With our new Grass-Fed & Finished Beef Stick Multipacks, families get 100% grass-fed and finished beef, high-quality ingredients and real protein at a price that's roughly 20% lower than many well-known competitors."

For c-store and foodservice operators evaluating protein snack assortments, price-per-gram-of-protein is increasingly the metric buyers benchmark against. Jack Link's multipack strategy — more units per package at a lower per-stick cost — is engineered to win that calculation on planograms where shelf tags drive trial. The LiL' Links format, with its lunchbox-and-road-trip positioning, also targets the captive-audience daypart that travel plaza and convenience operators know well: families who need portable, no-prep nutrition between meals.

Learn more about emerging protein snack trends in the c-store channel and how operators are building better-for-you grab-and-go sets in our recent coverage.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.