Kalkin Brosseau’s quest for a better snack led him to a Seinfeld joke.
Along the way, he discovered jerky and started his own business making it and selling it at farmers markets in Coquitlam and Burnaby. From Nov. 17 to 19, The Jerk Store (jerkstore.ca) will be one of several vendors from the Tri-Cities at the West Coast Christmas Show and Artisan Marketplace at the Abbotsford Tradex.
Brosseau’s journey to jerky started because he was tired of snacking on unhealthy and unsatisfying fare like chips. He tried a sample of the dried, chewy meat strips and learned of the high protein and low fat content.
To give him even more control over elements like salt and flavours, Brosseau started to make his own. He concocted rubs and marinades that evoked restaurants he’d visited, places he and his wife, Danielle, had dined. One was a baseball steak with a cowboy spice rub that reminded him of the Waterlot Inn steakhouse in Bermuda. Another was a French onion soup marinade that came from a year Danielle lived in France working as an au pair.
When Brosseau shared his jerky with friends, they raved — and told him he should sell it.
So when he and Danielle pulled up stakes from Ontario and moved to Port Moody last December, he decided the time was right.
Brosseau set himself up in a shared commissary kitchen with a 200-litre dehydrator. He scaled his recipes for commercial production and locally sourced the best cuts of meat.
Then, he needed a name for his new venture — something catchy and memorable, maybe even a little funny. He also needed it to gain his wife's approval.
After several pitches that fell short, the longtime fan of the 1990s sitcom Seinfeld remembered the episode in which a scorned George Costanza expends tremendous time and energy to compose the perfect comeback to the insults from a co-worker. When the co-worker falls into the trap he’s set by gorging on a heaping bowl of shrimp during a staff meeting, Costanza unleashes his jewel, “Well the jerk store called, and they’re running out of you!”
It falls flat, with a thud.
But Costanza’s humiliation was Brosseau’s inspiration.
While his wife wasn’t buying it, Brosseau said customers have. As he worked the farmers market circuit last summer, people would engage him in conversations about Seinfeld, they posed for photos in front of his tent. And, most importantly, they bought his jerky.
He’s also discovering new markets at craft beer tasting rooms that aren’t allowed to sell food but can provide simple snack items.
Brosseau admits his venture to the Christmas show is a bit of an experiment as jerky likely isn’t on the top of many gift lists but he’s hoping people will want to stuff stockings with his tasty, little joke.
And, in case you need a reminder of that joke:
