In 1950, Sam Walton and his wife Helen opened their Walton’s 5&10 store on the downtown square in Bentonville, Arkansas. Sam opened the first Walmart store in 1962 at the age of 44 in Rogers, Arkansas. Walmart was founded with the goals of offering lower prices and great service. In 1970, Walmart went public at $16.50 per share. In 2021, Walmart internationally will likely exceed half a trillion dollars of annual sales.
This Great Value brand of jerky is distributed by Wal-Mart Canada Corp., and it is located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. This jerky is almost certainly manufactured by a private labeler.
The next review on Walmart’s brand name Great Value will focus on a 2.8 ounce/80 gram bag of their teriyaki flavoured beef jerky. This bag was purchased at a Walmart store in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Water, Sugar, Brown Sugar, Soy Sauce (Water, Soybeans, Rice, Salt), Fructose, Corn Syrup, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Maltodextrin, Disodium Inosinate and Guanylate, Sodium Erythorbate, Spices, Sodium Nitrite, Spice Extract, Smoke Allergen Warnings: Soy
The beef used is not guaranteed to be free of growth hormones or additional antibiotics. Also, the beef is not guaranteed to have at least partial free range access to graze on grass. As a result, the highest ingredient rating that can be awarded is a Good (8/10) rating.
The liquid marinade used here is comprised of water, a decent brand of soy sauce, and not so healthy corn syrup.
The only healthy ingredients added are spice extract and spices, which likely includes ginger and garlic.
The sugar level is at the acceptable upper limit of 5 grams of sugar per 27 grams of jerky for a sweet based flavour as we have here with teriyaki. The salt level is reasonable at 290mg of salt per 27 grams of jerky.
This jerky does not qualify to have no sodium nitrite as sodium nitrite is used outright along with sodium erythorbate as preservatives to lose a rating.
This jerky does not qualify to have no MSG added as the highly processed, cheap flavour enhancer hydrolyzed corn protein is used to lose a rating. The flavour enhancers disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate are used, which work synergistically to enhance flavour enhancers to lose another rating.
Average (5/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
Great Value – Teriyaki Beef Jerky
Written by guest jerky reviewer Paul Rekker
When I open the bag I definitely smell the teriyaki. The jerky strips are medium in size, and they are sliced to a medium thickness. The jerky is soft and dry, along with chewy, and it leaves no oily residue on your fingers.
The first flavours I encounter are salt, at a light level, sweet, at a significantly higher level, understandable because of the teriyaki flavour it is, light pepper, even lighter garlic, I believe I am also tasting slight soy. Some of the strips have a noticeable amount of fat, which, when consumed, greatly enhances the flavours.
I have to admit, knowing this was a big brand manufacturer, along with the flavour being teriyaki, typically being my least favourite flavour, I was fully expecting to be sorely disappointed, however, to my complete and total surprise, this jerky is much better than I expected. No home run here, but a long double, which would have turned into a triple if the runner had any speed (apologies for the sports metaphor), and we have a strong 7/10, but closer to a weaker 8/10. Gentlemen?
Here is what Mark had to say about this teriyaki beef jerky flavour from Great Value: “Thanks Paul for the honest taste review. I generally agree with your review but not completely. First, this teriyaki flavour has almost no Asian flair despite it being advertised as using ginger and garlic. The sweetness is definitely present, too much for my liking especially due to the brown sugar and sugar, but perhaps par for the course with a teriyaki flavour. The soy sauce is at a mild level and there is not else much, such as pineapple or sesame. True, the fat does enhance the natural beef flavour but the beef has a slightly processed flavour that is not even comparable to homemade beef jerky.”
“As for the taste rating. Using Paul’s baseball analogy. A triple is going too far, where a double at best and more likely a long single. There is little ‘wow’ factor for me, where I had not much interest in finishing off my portion due to the sweetness. With myself at an Alright (6/10) taste rating, and Paul at a 7 rating with the possibility of an 8 rating, a Decent (7/10) taste rating will be awarded.”
This 2.3 ounce/65 gram bag of jerky cost $4.47. That works out to $1.94 an ounce, which rates at a cheap price.
Bag Review
This professional-looking resealable plastic bag has everything imprinted on the bag itself, both on the front and back. There is a high-resolution picture of jerky and soy sauce on the front.
There are no slogans printed on this bag. Some facts stated on this bag are “High in Protein”, “Low in Fat”, “70 Calories”, “1.5g Fat”, “280mg Sodium”, “5 G Sugars” “Product of U.S.A.”, “High in Protein”, “8g Fat”, “490mg Sodium”, and “5g Sugars”.
There are no bag categories missing. On the front, there is a tiny blurb printed about this teriyaki flavour. To the credit of Wal-Mart Canada Corp., a satisfaction guaranteed offer is offered including a toll-free number for customer inquiries. As per Canadian law, there are French translations provided.
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