(our origin story)

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Diana Dussan invented Snack Jack in 2016, inspired by a life-changing 2-hour kayaking trip. By the time she got back on land, she'd decided to invent a product that would have a positive impact on the community and the environment. It would be a healthy, wholesome food made from natural, plant-powered ingredients. However, it would be another two weeks before the idea to turn jackfruit into jerky came to her as an epiphany. Diana had just spent the last several months experimenting with fruits and vegetables to get meat-like textures in her meals without the use of over-processed meat alternatives. AThis helped set the stage when her mom handed her an article she'd saved about using green jackfruit as a pulled pork substitute. One paragraph into the article the idea came to her. Jackfruit JERKY! She did a Google search and nothing came up. How was it that not a single blogger had come up with this yet? She got to work immediately! Within two hours she had the entire recipe planned out in her head and scored a used dehydrator for $20 on Offer Up to test her idea. It worked! A couple of days later Snack Jack was born. 

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Blown away by the meaty texture and flavor she achieved from jackfruit, she knew immediately that she had her product. However, if she was going to make an impact, she needed to create a food that would be loved by everyone, so to test it, she thought, it had to be approved by meat-eaters—not vegans. That first bag went to the person she knew would be her harshest critic—Dave—her 60-something retired military, anti-anything-vegan, mountain man of a stepdad. Out running errands with her mom and Dave one day, she handed him the bag of jerky without any context. He assumed it was regular ol' jerky, ate it, loved it, and went back for more. Diana confessed that it wasn't meat and he didn't believe it. He couldn't wrap his head around the notion that this peppery, meaty jerky was vegan. Perhaps if he had, he may have stopped, but he didn't. He ate the whole bag. She knew for certain that if Dave liked it, anyone could! She spent the next few months perfecting the recipe and sending it around the country to friends and friends of friends who were heavy meat-eaters, hunters, meat processors, and jerky producers. Each person was given a bag without any context. Time and time again the reaction was the same! 

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Since its inception, Snack Jack has undergone many iterations to make it as inclusive as possible so that people of all diets can enjoy it. The Snack Jack we know and love today isn't the original recipe. Half way through recipe trials, Diana was put on a soy-free, gluten-free, dairy-free doctor-prescribed diet—a last resort to treat a handful of debilitating autoimmune disorders she'd suffered from for the past 15 years. The diet worked! Within three months, her gut was healed and her autoimmune disorders were a thing of the past. However, during that time, Diana found out first-hand just how difficult it can be for people with diet restrictions to find quick, grab-and-go snacks. After all, she couldn't even taste her own product anymore! That's when she went back to the drawing board. She scrapped the entire recipe and created a food that everyone could eat—an all-in-one grab-n-go snack and quick meal that is completely free of the top 8 food allergens and triggers! Dozens of recipe trials later, Snack Jack is now free of gluten, soy, nuts, and added sugar—a rarity among jerky of any kind!