I had the pleasure of chatting with another one of our local vendors, Julien Reininger. I was surprised to find out during my research and then get confirmation that yes, Julien's product is in 45 stores across the country, with Good Foods Grocery being the first spot that started carrying his product.

Julien is the founder of Jacked! Jackfruit Jerky and he started this project while attending Virginia Commonwealth University. Julien wanted to create a delicious and guilt-free snack that refined plant-based snacking.

The project started from his own personal switch to a vegan diet. He used to love Slim Jim's as a kid and thought maybe he could create a salty, savory snack without the junk. While getting my master's degree at VCU, Julien took everything that he was being taught in the classroom and implemented it into the business.

After countless trials and errors and after sending many samples out to family and friends, he finally found 3 flavors that were good enough to launch. Once Julien produced a business plan, he launched a Kickstarter campaign and raised $8,500 to fund their first packaging order. Since then, they have grown to 45 stores nationwide!

LinkedIn ➡️ https://www.linkedin.com/in/julienreininger/

Instagram ➡️ https://www.instagram.com/jackedjackfruitjerky/

The Good Foods podcast is hosted by Shardan Sandoval and it’s possible that you've heard my voice on a commercial here and there, particularly since I'm currently one of the many talented National Creative Production Designers for iHeartMedia and to date, I voiced and produced commercials that have aired from Hartford to Hawaii.

My IG ➡️ https://rb.gy/n60br

My LinkedIn ➡️ https://rb.gy/9d31vk

Comments, questions, partner, and topic suggestions can be sent to us below and we look forward to hearing from you!

Good Foods Grocery ➡️ http://www.goodfoodsgrocery.com/

X ➡️ @goodfoodgrcoer

Email ➡️ podcast@goodfoodsgrocery.com

Be safe. Be good. Be.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-good-foods-podcast--5864085/support.