Old Trapper Beef Jerky (History, Marketing & Commercials)

Jerky is one of those snacks that nearly everyone likes. It makes a good companion to a road trip, can be taken on a hike or a camping trip, or can just be eaten at home for a healthy quick snack option. There are so many different kinds of jerky on the market today, and you can get jerky made from beef, turkey, and even more exotic meats.

Old Trapper offers some of the best-known products, and they have managed to grow their company without sacrificing their commitment to their roots. The company began its life as a grocery store and grew over time into a jerky-making business that is the second largest in the world. If you have never tried jerky products or you have not found a jerky brand that you love, you need to make sure to put Old Trapper Beef Jerky on your list of snack items to try out.

History

Jerky products have been around since people have been around. Jerky is a great solution to help cure meats so that they will not go bad when stored long-term. Today, jerky is treated more like a healthy snack, but in the past, jerky was the mainstay of many people’s meat consumption due to its durability. Modern jerky is made in a more rapid way than the jerky that was made by indigenous peoples to feed them throughout the winter or when shifting locations each season. That does not inhibit its flavor, however, and people love the savory, spicy, and satisfying taste of jerky products just as much today as they probably did in antiquity.

Old Trapper Beef Jerky is one of the more recognizable jerky brands in the US, having been around for a short time but making a big mark on the industry. This was a product that was founded in a homemade recipe that was sold to locals on the coast of Oregon, and the company has continued to make products that taste homemade. The company also utilizes a fun and memorable mascot, which has also helped with branding and interest in these jerky products.

Old Trapper has been a brand for more than 50 years. The original company was actually a roadside grocery store that was opened on the outskirts of the little town of Tillamook in Oregon. The store quickly became well-known for its delicious jerky and was a local favorite. You might have seen travel guides telling you to be sure to stop by this little wide spot in the road just to try the jerky that they sold.

The company has grown over the years, and over time it moved away from the grocery store model to focus entirely on its jerky production. They have recently created a new facility to make their jerky even more rapidly, and they are the second-largest jerky manufacturer in the world. The company has grown so much since 1969 that it is hard to imagine that it was ever a small store selling grocery goods as well as their jerky.

The brand was called Old Trapper as a nod to the trappers who helped explore and discover the state of Oregon. Oregon was not well-explored prior to the rise in the trapping trade, and the trappers who moved into the state looking for furs to sell helped to open up new frontiers and build settlements that turned into towns and cities all across the state. The coast is one of the regions where trappers have been credited with founding many cities, and the Old Trapper jerky branding was linked with this history of the state.

The company has also made The Old Trapper a character who helps advertise their products even today. They state on their website that The Old Trapper “is somewhere between 30 and 3,000 years old” and that he is “shrouded in mystery”. Their description includes pictures of someone in trapper’s garb looking suitably mysterious and enigmatic. The company states that The Old Trapper, “knows his beef” and guides the creation process for the company to this day.

Old Trapper Beef Jerky commercials and jerky brands tend to lean heavily on a main mascot like The Old Trapper character, but this has made for some of the most memorable and funny commercials for food products that anyone can remember. The current ads for Old Trapper products are memorable and funny and make an impression even if you are not someone who loves to eat jerky products. 

Products

The company makes an array of different products, from snack packs, to large bags of jerky in different flavors. They have built off of the original Old Trapper beef jerky products to create a full lineup of really yummy meat-based snacking options that anyone would love. Most of the packaging options are quite large, but you can get smaller bags at some locations or order them online if you don’t want a large tub or bag of jerky.

• Peppered Double Eagle
• Teriyaki Double Eagle
• Spicy Double Eagle
• Traditional Style Jerky
• Traditional Style Peppered
• Traditional Style Jerky-Hot and Spicy
• Traditional Style Jerky- Teriyaki
• Jalapeno Style Beef Sticks
• Original Deli Beef Sticks
• Teriyaki Beef Sticks
• Beef & Cheese Snack Stick
• Beef & Cheese Snack Stick – Jalapeno

All of the jerky products come in bags, tubs, or bulk boxes of bags. You can order your own bulk orders of bags if you wish, or you can choose to get a tub of jerky to have a large amount on hand. The company also sells various sizes of packages of beef sticks in different flavors. There is also a lot of branded swag that you can buy if you want to have a sweatshirt, hat, or some other form of clothing with the Old Trapper brand logo on it.

When the original jerky products were being sold only in Tillamook at the grocery store, there were already swag offerings on hand to help make your visit to the store more memorable. The Oregon coast has a history of being the home to these kinds of shops that offer great food and that are also willing to sell you a commemorative sweatshirt, hat, or keychain. You will still find the same model in place at the Tillamook Creamery, and many people travel to the Oregon coast each year to enjoy these locations and pick up clothing and commemorative items at each stop.

If you can’t head to Tillamook to try out Old Trapper, you can still get yourself a hat, a sweatshirt, or some other swag item on their website. This has been one of the central aspects of the branding of this product since the start, and many lovers of the brand enjoy picking up the occasional new item that proclaims that they buy or enjoy the brand.

Branding

As mentioned before, The Old Trapper character is central to the branding efforts for this company, and they make sure that this character is mentioned often and appears in many of the ads to this day. They also know that their target market are people who are outdoorsy, who hunt or fish, and who might want to bring portable snacks with them on road trips or other adventures. There is a lot made of the healthy nature of these products, but they also mention that you can eat them in your deer stand, take them on your fishing trip, or enjoy homemade jerky without having to make it yourself.

You will know right off that this brand is mainly aimed at sportsmen, but they have taken the time to make it clear that they are all about healthy eating and about making their recipes the right way to appeal to the health-conscious crowd as well. The old-fashioned charm of the branding of this product is pretty fun, even if you are not into hunting or fishing or the great outdoors.

Newer ads use the slogan, “the last bag” and show everyone at a party having a “shootout” over the last bag that is on the table at the gathering. They might also show people doing hard work and snacking on Old Trapper to keep them feeling strong and hale as they undertake tough tasks. These ads fit into the same general category as the Ford ads that indicate that Ford owners are, “built tough”.

Logo

Ingredients:

From an online seller offering a bag of the peppered old-fashioned Old Trapper Beef jerky:

• Beef
• Brown Sugar
• Water
• Salt
• Flavorings
• Beef Stock
• Hydrolyzed Corn Protein
• Vinegar
• Sodium Nitrite

You can see how simple the recipe of these products really is, and it becomes clear that the brand’s claim that you will be getting jerky as authentic as the jerky you can make on your own holds water. It is nice to know that a company that proclaims to make healthy food really can stand behind this claim.

Nutrition

Serving Size:	1 oz (28g)	% Daily Value*
Amount Per Serving
Calories	60
Calories from Fat	0
Total Fat	0g	0%
Saturated Fat	0g	0%
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	20mg	7%
Sodium	600mg	25%
Total Carbohydrates	6g	2%
Dietary Fiber	0g	0%
Sugars	5g
Protein	9g
Vitamin A		0%
Vitamin C		0%
Calcium		0%
Iron		1.4%

• Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet.

Pictures

Commercials

An ad from the 80s:

The new facility being built:

“The Last Bag” ad for Old Trapper Beef Jerky

Tough Snacks ad: