The beef jerky flavors are always evolving at People’s Choice Beef Jerky in Los Angeles. On its website Original, Hot & Spicy are readily apparent, but Hatch Green Chile and Garlic Ginger flavored products are also promoted within the Tasting Kitchen part of the business.

Essentially, the jerky company encourages its customers to suggest new ideas and flavors that they’d like to see People’s Choice offer.

“That’s kind of the fun thing with being a family business,” said Mark Bianchetti, president of People’s Choice Beef Jerky. “I think we can kind of experiment, have fun and have a good relationship with our customer base.”

The product mix will always be focused on jerky and snack sticks, but recently the company rolled out Jerky Crisps featuring dried beef and a touch of sea salt. The high-protein snack, similar to a potato chip, is another way People’s Choice differentiates itself in the growing snack marketplace.

“We just thought, why not capitalize on a product that people love and instead of potatoes, we’ll use beef,” Bianchetti said.

Long Held Roots

Nestled in the heart of downtown Los Angeles’ fashion district, People’s Choice Beef Jerky continues to churn out its product to loyal customers in California and beyond.

Bianchetti said his meat processing facility and warehouse are grandfathered into the neighborhood even with so many other non-food businesses transforming around them.

Bianchetti, a third-generation business owner, always felt this was the right place.

“We really never gave a thought of going elsewhere,” he said of the location.

While staying in the same spot People’s Choice also maintained itself as a family-owned business. Bianchetti maintains that legacy, which started more than 90 years ago.

The company began with John Bianchetti, Mark’s grandfather, who started under the name People’s Sausage Co. in 1929 before moving to the current location in 1939.

John ran the facility until his son Paul returned from serving in the Korean War. The two expanded from a neighborhood shop and began working with foodservice customers throughout Los Angeles. That was the core business of People’s Choice until it shifted its focus to jerky in the 1980s.

Mark began working full time at the operation in 1978 and has been through various versions of People’s Choice and maintained the same quality items.

“Anybody can basically go out to a big distribution company and buy products for their restaurant,” Mark said of the previous iteration of the business. “But if you make a product and it’s kind of yours and you can put your twist on it, then they kind of have to come to you to buy that product.”

Now the company has moved into the latest chapter under the leadership of Mark’s son, Brian and daughter Sara. People’s Choice continues to rely on its meat snack processing expertise of 90 years, and the addition of e-commerce as a growing part of its business strategy.

A dedicated retail space was not something that People’s Choice focused on for many years. However, since Brian has become more involved, it’s become an essential part of the business and is able to showcase its products and how they are manufactured by giving customers a glimpse of the processing operation.

It was Mark’s son who suggested enhancing the customer experience.

“Why don’t we make a space to where they can come in, look at the products, take a sneak peek of processing through a big window and they can see how it’s done,” Mark said of the retail space modification.

People's Choice owners include (from left) Brian, Sara, Courtney and Mark Bianchetti. (Source: People's Choice Beef Jerky)

Jerky Essentials  

When sourcing its meat for jerky, People’s Choice looks to slab beef products from Cargill’s beef plant in Fresno, Calif., and Caviness Beef Packers in Hereford, Texas.

For smaller-batch, artisanal products, People’s Choice sometimes sources from AB Foods LLC in Washington and some other plants in South Dakota and Nebraska. All these products are sourced from beef that is USDA Choice or higher, according to Mark. He said People’s Choice is a stickler for starting with high-quality beef because the marbling ensures the best possible flavor of the jerky.

“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel but just come up with better and better quality as we go along,” Mark said.

Once the beef has been sliced into slabs and arrives at the facility, the jerky process gets underway to customize it for clients.

In its plant, workers trim the product by hand before slicing it through a machine to get uniform pieces on the other end.

Then the product is marinated in spices needed for that production run before tumbling the meat to lock in the flavor. It then heads into the oven to cook and dry out. The jerky and other snacks are weighed and put into proper packaging before heading to the warehouse just behind the facility.

From the warehouse, People’s Choice focuses first on fulfilling orders from its e-commerce website before the remaining product is picked up by distributors. Mark noted that People’s Choice does some private label work and sells some of its products as part of subscription packages.

People’s Choice has to keep its production going with only 15,000 square feet for further processing, packaging and storage. Working from a smaller space forces the company to always be flexible to maximize the throughput in the small operation.

“There’s a million variables,” Mark said. “What we try to do is be as consistent as possible, but within those variables, keep that quality using the best stuff that we can.”

People’s Choice operates on a single daily shift with about 40 employees working from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

In a tight labor market, an essential cornerstone for the company and its stakeholders is employee retention. Mark said one of the keys to retaining employees is leading by example, something he witnessed by watching his father and grandfather.

Employees seeing the owner working hard and seeing him put the time in at the plant motivates them and earns their respect. It’s a tradition he plans to pass on to the next generation.

“I’ve always told my kids to treat your employees as family because if you do and you get a good respect between both you and them, they’re going to appreciate that and they’re going to work hard for you and they’re going to stay loyal,” Mark said.