Werner Gourmet Meat Snacks is still family owned (despite all the arguments) and proudly produces top quality meat snacks, trail mixes, roasted nuts, and candies on the Oregon Coast. Born and raised in Tillamook, Oregon, Ken & Karla Werner built Werner Gourmet Meat Snacks from the ground up. In 1994, Ken & Karla started making beef jerky in their garage at home. Ken would load up their family minivan with beef jerky to drive up and down the north Oregon Coast, selling Werner Beef Jerky to local shops and stores when the jerky was ready. People loved their jerky’s savory taste and homemade feel, and the Werner Brand soon became a local favorite.
Today, Werner Gourmet Meat Snacks operates in a modern, 100,000 square foot facility located in the heart of Tillamook, Oregon. As the company has grown, one thing that has never changed is a philosophy of quality first, a sincere appreciation of its customers, many of whom have become close friends, and a heartfelt dedication to creating high-quality, great-tasting snack products. This Werner jerky brand is distributed under the name of Werner Gourmet Meat Snacks, Inc., located in Tillamook, Oregon, by the coast.
The next review on Werner will focus on a 1.1 ounce/31 gram bag of their Teriyaki flavored meat sticks. This flavor is described as using a tangy soy sauce, sweet brown sugar, seasoned with their family’s blend of spices, then natural-wood-smoked to sweet and tangy perfection. The bag was purchased at a gas station in Oxnard, California.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Pork, Beef, Brown Sugar, Corn Syrup, Soy Sauce [Water, Soybeans, Salt], Soy Sauce Powder (Soybeans, Salt), Maltodextrin, Salt], Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Dextrose, Monosodium Glutamate, Spice, Onion Powder, Garlic, Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite, Caramel, Annatto, Red 3. 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.
Some healthy ingredients added are garlic, onion powder, and spice.
The artificial color red 3 is used to lose a rating.
The sugar level is decent at 2 grams of sugar per 28 grams of meat stick. The salt level is high at 560mg of salt per 28 grams of meat stick to lose a rating. Our preference is 350mg of salt or less per 28 grams of meat stick.
This meat stick does not qualify to have no sodium nitrite as sodium erythorbate and sodium nitrite are used as the main preservative to lose a rating.
This meat stick does not qualify to have no MSG added because monosodium glutamate is used outright to lose a rating. The cheap, highly processed flavor enhancer hydrolyzed corn protein is used to lose another rating.
Bad (3/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
WERNER – TERIYAKI MEAT STICKS
Written by guest jerky reviewer Paul Rekker
When I open the bag I smell absolutely nothing. The meat stick looks identical to your run-of-the-mill pepperette. It is the same size and thickness, the same hue, and everything from an appearance factor.
When I bite into the meat stick I taste excellence. I taste exactly the right amounts of salt, sweet, pepper, garlic, and onion. It doesn’t really taste much like teriyaki, but, to me, that is a very good thing. This meat stick is delicious, but if it tasted more like teriyaki, I wouldn’t be saying that.
This meat stick is scrumptious. I suppose I should deduct a point for it not tasting like teriyaki, but then I am not being true to the delectable taste of this particular meat stick. I am going to disregard the lack of a teriyaki flavor and award this meat stick a whoppingly well-deserved 10/10. A very enthusiastic two thumbs up!!👍👍
This 1.1 ounce/31 gram bag is believed to have been sold for $1.99. That works out to $1.81 an ounce, which rates as an expensive price.
Excellent (10/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This clear plastic bag has everything imprinted on the front and nothing on the back.
There are no slogans printed on this bag. Some facts printed on this bag are “Twin Pack” and “Artificially Colored Casing”.
The only missing bag category is a soy allergen alert. Admirably, a toll-free phone is provided for customer inquiries.
Werner is a good quality product be aware beef products in this price range are made from imported beef. The entire beef jerky isle is imported meat. Thanks