We recently connected with Garret & Jordan Danks and have shared our conversation below.

Garret & Jordan , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Growth is exciting, but from what we’ve seen across thousands of conversations with entrepreneurs it’s also dangerous if costs aren’t watched closely – sometimes costs can grow out of control outpacing revenue growth and putting the viability of the entire business at risk. How have you managed to keep costs under control?

Inflation is hitting everyone so hard right now. And we’re seeing the impact everywhere and on everyone. That being said, while so many brands have had to raise their prices, we’ve been on a mission to keep our price the same. And even with the cost of beef increasing, we have yet to change our prices since we started.

To maintain our current prices we began to research some new cost-effective options which led us to fertilizer. Now we’ve partnered with a great new company called SafeGro who is scientifically redefining the fertilizer game while keeping all production and shipping in Texas.

We all know that it starts with the soil and it was important for us that the beef we use for Thanks Danks is free of GMOs, nitrates and certain grains like corn. What we’ve discovered with SafeGro is that it’s so cost-friendly to farmers that it helps with the cost of beef and produce. And since the majority of our ingredients are fresh, this was a huge win for us.

Going forward, as we continue to grow, this is a sustainable option for us to keep prices under control.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

The first time Garret had beef jerky, he was four years old. And still, to this day, beef jerky is his favorite food. As a kid, he remembers going to the gas station and carefully examining all the different jars of jerky, trying to find the perfect piece.

Funny story, on our very first date, we spent the first hour talking about beef jerky and how it’s changed over the course of our lives. Now when you go to the grocery store or gas station, there are fewer jars to choose from and too many commercial brands that are loaded with sugar. We both personally believe that meat should not taste like that.

When Garret was about 14 years old, he started researching everything he could about beef jerky, before making his first batch in 2012. And over the years, he learned everything he could about beef:

• What makes the best marinade?
• Which cut of beef gives you the best quality?
• Which seasonings keep the flavor of the beef?
• How can he make this better than what is being sold?

We met in 2014 and discovered that I had an autoimmune disorder in 2016. And while mine was corn related, we have a lot of friends, family members and colleagues that are celiac, gluten intolerant, or diabetic. This new discovery presented a new opportunity and we both made it our mission to produce a beef jerky product that was safe for everyone. And in 2016, Thanks Danks was born.

No gluten. No sugar. No GMOs. No nitrates. No artificial flavors. No MSG. No liquid smoke. No corn. Only real ingredients that you can pronounce and have in your pantry. Everyone always asks us, “what makes your jerky unique?” The answer is simple, we use dang good quality ingredients, that are locally sourced and crafted to exclude all unnecessary additives.

We have found a way to create and perfect America’s favorite snack. Our promise to our customers is that we will never skimp on the quality, care, or craftsmanship that goes into each and every bag of Thanks Danks. We stand beside this product enough to put our name on it. And we hope you like it as much as we do.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

At the beginning of the year we were ready to make the move into grocery stores. Thom’s Market was the first Austin-chain to sell our product and the response has been incredible. Since then we’ve added six new stores throughout the Austin area and outside of Dallas who are carrying our beef jerky. The new stream of clients we’ve received from these stores has been incredibly exciting for us. And the feedback alone is enough to keep us going.

Yolanda Nagy, who puts on the Good Sheppard Farmers Market in Tarrytown, has also been instrumental in providing a new group of loyal customers after she asked us to be part of her farmers market.

We’ve also been lucky enough to have publications like Voyage and Edible Austin feature us in their magazines. Those have been another great source for new clients, especially since their readers may not have seen or heard of us before.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Covid played such a huge part in so many small businesses, but luckily we survived. That being said, we had to be resilient if we wanted to keep going. We were in the middle of moving kitchens when everything shut down. The kitchen we were supposed to move into went from being delayed by a month to not opening for a full year. In that time, we had no place to cook jerky, which meant we couldn’t sell anything, work on growing the brand, or get our USDA approval that’s needed to sell across state lines.

When we finally got into our kitchen at Prep ATX, we had another obstacle ahead of us. The USDA. Their process is tedious, meticulous, and honestly a bit overwhelming. The hope we had was that we would be able to get our inspection shortly after moving in, but we learned it wasn’t that simple. What’s so important about having your establishment’s official number is that you’re able to sell to larger distributors, subscription boxes and more. But until that seal is on your bag, you’re incredibly limited to where your product can be sold. Now, a year and a half later, we have finally started this process and can’t wait to see how God blesses it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thanksdanks.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thanksdanksjerky
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thanksdanks
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/thanksdanks

Image Credits
Ryan White