Founded in 1929, People’s Choice Beef Jerky is LA’s Original Beef Jerky. We have been handcrafting premium beef jerky for over 89 years and four generations. We are inspired by our local community and take great pride in calling Los Angeles home.
A lot has changed in the past 89 years, but one thing has remained the same: our dedication to high quality ingredients, simple handmade process, and treating our customers and partners with the utmost respect.
Let’s take a look back into the history of our multi-generational, family business.
We are LA's Original Small Batch Beef Jerky.
The 1920s was a prosperous era in Los Angeles.
Hollywood became synonymous with fame, glamor and celebrity with the emerging film industry. A burgeoning labor market attracted an influx of people from both the rural Midwest and Mexico. In fact, Los Angeles became the fifth largest city in the United States in the 1920s. Many of LA’s most historic sites opened during the 1920s including the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Hollywood Bowl, City Hall, the Los Angeles Central Library, and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (now TCL Chinese Theater).
That's not all.
A Man and the American Dream
In 1929, John Bianchetti founded the People’s Market in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles.
His motive was simple: support his young family by doing what he knew best – handcrafting premium meats. His vision was to build a neighborhood meat shop, producing and distributing premium meats such as sausage, chorizo, and beef jerky to local restaurants and markets.
"He plants trees to benefit another generation." -Caecilius Statius
He proved the validity of that vision in 1939 when he moved his growing business into our current location at 1132 East Pico Boulevard and changed the name to Peoples Sausage Company, solidifying our legacy in the specialty meat space.
A Reputation Not Given, But Earned
The business eventually passed down to his son.
Under the stewardship of 2nd generation owner, Paul Bianchetti, the scope of the business expanded to the restaurant trade with a focus on wholesale supply and distribution. At its peak, the company serviced over 200 restaurants and markets across the greater Los Angeles area. Even though the amount of distribution increased, beef jerky production was still a mainstay of the company
"Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of advice."
In fact, the growing distribution enhanced the company's reputation in the dried meat space. The expansion of the grocery and retail distribution increased the exposure of our handmade products. It was through this distribution that we built our reputation as one of the best beef jerky producers in Los Angeles.
Change for the Better
It wasn’t until the arrival of 3rd generation owner, Mark Bianchetti, that the company focused almost exclusively on jerky.
"In the late 1980s,” explains Mark, “the market was changing, I knew we had to do something. The writing was on the wall. I have some friends who supply beef to the fast-food industry and they told me about the explosion in snack foods. I knew we had always made very, very good, large slabs of beef jerky, but we were selling it in bulk packages for market showcases. I decided, the way things were going, we ought to package it and sell it by the piece, targeting the snack product industry.”
The company switched gears and focused on the production of handmade beef jerky. This focus continues today as we are one of the premier manufacturers of premium jerky in the United States. With the support of his wife, Courtney, Mark has cemented People's Choice Beef Jerky as a leader in beef jerky production. His over 40 years of experience, dedication, and hard work has been the primary driver of the company's success.
His sacrifice and continued hard work shines as a glowing example to the newest members of the People's Choice Beef Jerky team.
Story of Fathers and Sons and Daughters
Today, Sara and Brian Bianchetti (sister & brother) have joined the company as the best looking generation yet, ;).
Representing the 4th generation at People's Choice Beef Jerky, this brother and sister duo are building on the foundation established by the generations before them to share the People's Choice story and full range of premium meat snacks to the world.
This is Family Business
Today, People’s Choice Beef Jerky is one of the premier jerky companies in Los Angeles. Since our founding in 1929, our mission has been to deliver a top quality beef jerky that upholds our rich tradition. Our tradition defines who we are.
Simplicity, honesty and quality are the pillars of that tradition and we strive to bring them to life in everything we do, from our product to our packaging. No shortcuts, tricks, or compromises, we craft a handmade, tried & true beef jerky that our great grandfather would be proud to call his own.
Not only are we LA’s Original Beef Jerky, but we are LA’s Best Beef Jerky.
We invite you join the tradition and try one of world famous beef jerky products. Click here to start shopping the best beef jerky of scroll down to learn more about our most popular product lines.
Old Fashioned Beef Jerky
Our Old Fashioned Beef Jerky line is one of our most popular products. We have been making this style of jerky since our founding back in 1929. We took our great grandfather's recipe and updated it with all-natural ingredients and premium cuts of Angus-Certified beef.
Our goal was to craft a tried & true, old-fashioned style beef jerky. The flavor profile is intentionally simple — we use sea salt, black pepper, and an array of spices — to highlight the natural meat flavor. We wanted to create a jerky that had versatility in potential beverage pairings but also had a strong level of “snackability.” The packaging is inspired by our tradition.
The brick background is homage to the actual bricks of our factory in Downtown Los Angeles (the same building we've called home since 1929). We also wanted to highlight the health benefits of this All-Natural jerky such as High in Protein, Gluten-Free, and No Preservatives or Artificial Ingredients — plus 16g of protein per 1 ounce serving. This product is especially popular among the outdoor and active lifestyle consumer base that look for a snack that is not only healthy and convenient but tastes great. Many of our consumers take the Old Fashioned Line on camping trips, hiking trips, and road trips.
Additionally, the Ketogenic Diet community has really enjoyed the Old Fashioned due to the fact it is 100% Carb Free and Sugar Free; difficult to come by in today’s marketplace.
Carne Seca Beef Jerky
The Carne Seca Beef Jerky line is inspired by the rich culinary tradition right here in Los Angeles. Carne Seca translates from Spanish to “Dried Meat” or more specifically “Beef Jerky.” There’s a long tradition in Latin America, and Mexico specifically, of drying meat as preservation technique. Oftentimes, the meat was salted and dried with nothing more than the sun, air and a citrus cure.
Inspired by this culinary tradition, our Master Jerky Maker Ramon Gonzalez (a native Mexican) created the Limón and Limón con Chile flavor profiles. We made some (very obvious) updates to the process to uphold the highest standards of modern food safety, but preserved some of the flavor profiles: guajillo chile, sea salt, lemon, natural meat flavor, and the simple handmade technique. We think these products balance the simplicity of traditional style jerky with the nuance of Mexican flavor profiles – all modernized for the contemporary beef jerky connoisseur. The Carne Seca line is also High in Protein, Gluten-Free, and has No Preservatives or Artificial Ingredients; and 0-1g of sugar per serving.
Classic Beef Jerky
Our Classic Beef Jerky line, and the popular Big Slab product, has historically been our most popular product and is one of our most iconic meat snacks. Truly unrivaled in the marketplace, the Big Slab is 100% whole muscle slabs of beef, never chopped & formed. Each slab is at least 30% bigger than the closest competitor, hence the name Big Slab jerky. Most locals in Southern California will fondly remember purchasing whole slabs of the Classic Beef Jerky at fruit stands, gas stations, and neighborhood convenience stores. The original and ultimate road trip snack hasn't changed one bit and neither has our goal: to provide a better alternative to the processed meat snacks in the marketplace without compromising value.
Tasting Kitchen Beef Jerky
Our newest product line, the Tasting Kitchen Beef Jerky line, is our opportunity to bring new and emerging flavors to the public. One of the more delicious parts of our job is the recipe testing that goes on in our beef jerky test kitchen. The benefit of crafting artisanal jerky in small batches is that we can experiment and explore a diversity of flavors from spicy jerky to sweet jerky, Teriyaki jerky, and hot beef jerky. We are always searching for new flavors from around the world and we want to bring those special flavors directly to you. So every few months, we will offer one of our limited-edition, small batch flavors. Our goal is to deliver a sophisticated snacking experience that celebrates new ingredients while remaining true to our handmade tradition.
