THE BEST: TOP ARTISAN JERKY OF 2020

The world is full of fantastic, delicious, and innovative jerky. That’s why our panel of experts tastes each year some of the best, and ranks and celebrates what they find.

The Annual Jerky Awards competition rewards the Top Jerky creations of the Year.

Products from across the country entered into this competition, and were sent to a select jury panel of food & wine media and industry judges located throughout North America. This panel tasted, reviewed and voted on which they consider to be the “Top Jerky of the Year” by the TASTY AWARDS panel, the Academy of Media Tastemakers.

The TASTY AWARDS celebrate the year’s best achievements in artisan Food, Drink, and Fashion products, as well as honoring outstanding Restaurants and Chefs, including Popup Restaurants.

Annual TASTY AWARDS competition categories include awards for the best Healthy Gourmet Snacks, Jerky, Herbal Tea, Chocolates & Confections, Honey, New Release Wines, artisan Fragrances, Swimwear, and Cosmetics/Skincare.

The judges and reviewers for this year’s selections come from a panel of gurus from the Academy of Media Tastemakers. Here are their favorites

SOME TOP JERKY SELECTIONS

TOP GOLD & OFFICIAL JERKY PARTNERS

Top Overall Gold Jerky Award Winners, TASTY AWARDS Winners, and Official Jerky Partners of the TASTE AWARDS

Jed‘s Jerky Jed’s Sweet & Spicy Brisket
Gold Award

Ayoba-Yo Rosemary Truffle Biltong (Limited Small Batch Release)
Silver Award
Trapper‘s Creek Inc. Alaska’s Best Salmon Jerky (Original)
Silver Award
Trapper‘s Creek Inc. Alaska’s Best Salmon Jerky (Peppered)
Silver Award

Jamie‘s Jerky Jamie’s Original Beef Jerky
Bronze Award
Jed‘s Jerky Jed’s Siracha Bacon
Bronze Award
Jed‘s Jerky Jed’s Famous BBQ
Bronze Award
Matt Hat Jerky Black Truffle
Bronze Award
Matt-Hat Jerky Traditional Japanese Teriyaki
Bronze Award
MomsBeefJerky- Original Flavor
Bronze Award

SELECTED JUDGES’ COMMENTS

Alaska’s Best is top of show. Their three flavors submitted were outstanding in texture and flavor.

JUDGE

=Moms-love your complexity of flavors =Jeds-bbq beef brisket felt like i was eating real BBQ =MattHat-great idea to include floss =WickedCutz-organge teriyaki interesting and tasty twist on teriyaki!

JUDGE

Trappers Creek–great job, everything perfect. Matt-Hat–your teriyaki rocks! Perfect flavor, size and texture. Jed’s–good job with brisket and sriracha style.

JUDGE

Texture is a huge thing; amazing to see the differences here even with the same type of meat.

JUDGE

Jed’s Jerky is one of the best brands of jerky I’ve experienced! Keep up the great work. Ayoba-Yo Rosemary Truffle Biltong had a wonderful texture and alluring flavor profile. Wow! Wicked Cutz Carolina Killa Beef Jerky burned a lasting impression with it’s extreme heat. Started out hot and just kept on going, and going, and going! Whew. Trapper’s Creek alaska’s Best Salmon Jerkies were a nice addition to the saturated beef jerk market. Nice alternative.

JUDGE

Resealable bags are better unless it is a single serving.

JUDGE

OFFICIAL JERKY PARTNERS OF THE 12TH ANNUAL TASTE AWARDS
Recipients of this honor have the use of the title, “Official Jerky Partner of the TASTE AWARDS,” as well as the option to place jerky samples in the VIP and Celebrity Gift Bags at the TASTE AWARDS Red Carpet celebration in California (March/April 2020).

The TASTE AWARDS celebrate the year’s best in food, fashion and lifestyle programs on television, in film, online, and on radio.