If Gatekeepers Move The Goalposts, Sharpen Your Aim

Taste Radio

If it feels like you’re navigating constant shifts in how retailer buyers measure traction and determine metrics for success, you’re not alone. Jason Burke, for one, has been wrestling with the issue for years.

Jason is the founder of The New Primal, a better-for-you meat snack brand that debuted in 2013, and also sauce and seasoning brand Noble Made, which launched in 2023. The New Primal is best known for its 100% grass-fed beef sticks, along with all-natural chicken and turkey varieties, and is carried at retailers nationwide including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Giant, The Fresh Market and Lazy Acres. Noble Made markets a range of clean ingredient products including reduced-sugar BBQ sauces, dairy-free buffalo sauces, meat seasonings and a “Sloppy Joseph” skillet sauce, many of which are available at the same retailers as The New Primal.

Although Jason and his team have built The New Primal into one of the best-selling natural meat snack brands in the U.S., he is consistently evaluating its retail strategy and ways to enhance its products’ standing among buyers and consumers.

In this interview, recorded during a leadership event hosted by Manna Tree, a Vail-based private equity firm that led The New Primal’s $15 million Series B funding round in 2021, Jason spoke about how to demonstrate incremental value during pitch meetings, the impact of mission as a differentiator, why he views multinational and legacy brands as his chief competitors and how he is increasingly using his personal platform to create and develop authentic relationships with consumers.

Show notes:

0:43: Jason Burke, Founder & CEO, The New Primal – Jason and Taste Radio editor Ray Latif chatted about their last conversation for Taste Radio before the entrepreneur discussed the decision to launch Noble Made. Jason also discussed how data influences The New Primal’s retail strategy, how to establish a defensible position when competing against large CPG companies, how to generate brand enthusiasm to develop loyal consumers and how he’s creating a more visible presence for himself and his brands via social media and podcasting.

Brands in this episode: The New Primal, Noble Made, Slim Jim