How All Y’alls Foods & Louisville Vegan Jerky Work Together to Strengthen the Plant-Based Industry

Written by: Annie Taranshansky

When it comes to strengthening the plant-based foods industry, collaboration and partnership are key pillars for success. For an industry that is so people, planet, and animal-forward, our common interests understandably unite us in a collective vision of a better future. And as the entire food industry experiences certain economic conditions in a post-pandemic marketplace that are beyond control, collaboration is more important than ever to further the undeniable growth, innovation, and overall success that the plant-based foods industry has already achieved.

In one such example of collaboration, PBFA members and plant-based jerky leaders All Y’alls Foods and Louisville Vegan Jerky Co. united to form an exciting partnership: Co-manufacturing to produce their plant-based jerkies under the same roof. The PBFA team had the opportunity to speak to the companies’ leaders – Stanley Chase III, founder/CEO of Louisville Vegan Jerky Co., and Brett Christoffel, founder/CEO of All Y’alls Foods – to learn more about this new era of collaboration, how and why it came to be, and what it means for the two teams moving forward.

From Founding to Friendship

Louisville Vegan Jerky Co. was founded back in 2012 by Stanley Chase III in the jerky’s namesake of Louisville, Kentucky. At the time, Stanley was experimenting with plant-based proteins in his own kitchen, and working in foodservice at a vegan restaurant in Philadelphia. Eventually – after over a decade of delivering pizza, bartending, and playing in bands – Stanley was inspired by a vegan entrepreneur in his own circle to dive in headfirst and launch a plant-based jerky business. Louisville Vegan Jerky Co. began as a pop-up in local coffee shops and grocery stores, eventually taking off, becoming beloved by the community, and growing into the business it is today.

All Y’alls Foods was founded in small town Texas by Brett Chistoffel back in 2018. After reading books about veganism and learning about the harmful impacts of the industrial animal agriculture industry, Brett was inspired to make a change in his own diet and devote his career to plant-based innovation. Brett told PBFA, “I read that beef is our second largest export and that bothered me. I said out loud to myself, ‘Are you gonna whine about it, or are you going to change it?’ I said, ‘I’m going to change it.’” And thus, All Y’alls Foods was born, launching their first iconic jerky product, It’s Jerky Y’all, back in 2018.

After both companies became members of PBFA, they were mutually connected by PBFA Board Member and CEO of the Tofurky Company, Jaime Athos, who saw a potential for a friendship beyond a business partnership between the two founders. Since around the start of the pandemic, Stanley had been building a new facility bottom-up, from an empty shell of a closed-down grocery store, to a fully-functional manufacturing space. After being connected with Brett, who was in need of a new co-manufacturer, the two hit it off. “Meeting Jaime at Tofurky and Brett was a mystical moment. It felt cosmic and cool, and I’ve always relied on intuition over anything else,” Stanley shared with us. After connecting, learning more about each other’s products, and realizing that the two used the same protein base and valued similar traditional Southern flavors, the two became curious about the prospect of All Y’alls Foods moving into Louisville Vegan Jerky Co.’s new facility and cutting the costs of manufacturing alone. Stanley added, “ I believe so much in collaboration… I just love working with people on things.”

And so, Brett flew out to tour Louisville Vegan Jerky Co.’s freshly-minted manufacturing facility, meeting up with Stanley and his team, sharing, “[the people there were] all focused, all committed, all intelligent, all capable. It was just a completely different experience than I ever had before, and I was just excited as could be after the second day.” He continued, “I thought, why wait? Let's just go ahead and figure this out. Let’s work together.” And right then and there, their partnership was officially formed.

Cooperation Instead of Competition

Since the decision to partner, All Y’alls Foods moved in, and at present, both companies are producing their plant-based jerkies in the same facility. They have weekly calls with each other’s teams, and have both shared that their products have actually improved as a result of their collaboration and mutual exchange of expertise. Co-manufacturing together has given both an opportunity to look ahead and explore new projects, business strategies, and products than they would have otherwise been able to if they ran separate facilities on their own. And when asked whether they’ve felt any competitive pressures since the formation of their partnership, Brett stated, “There’s no reason we can’t happily exist together. It’s not about a competition. It’s about supporting an industry that we both believe in.”

Stanley further reflected, “There’s this idea of collectivism around the jerky company that is very contagious. People are very kind and caring. I’ve never been at a company before that has this much care.”

An Industry United

Looking ahead, All Y’alls Foods and Louisville Vegan Jerky Co. are both prioritizing innovation in the plant-based jerky space. Louisville Vegan Jerky Co. is currently on a mission to get to know their customer so they can best serve their consumer base (with exciting announcements coming on June 12th’s National Jerky Day), and All Y’alls Foods is excited to launch new flavors of their protein-packed jerky and crispy bits this July, which will also be available in foodservice.

When asked what they hope the next decade will look like for their companies, Stanley reminded us how important it is to celebrate and embrace how far our industry has already come, despite recent challenges in the marketplace. “If we can find a way to weather the storm and bind arms together, we can make it through,” he shared with great optimism. “We’re growing, and everyone else who does it right will grow,” Brett added.

And we can’t help but agree. We at PBFA deeply value the spirit and promise of community. When our members succeed, our industry succeeds, and partnership exists at the center of that vision. We look forward to seeing what’s next for All Y’alls Foods and Louisville Vegan Jerky Co., who are both setting a strong example of what keeps our industry strong: camaraderie.

Learn more about All Y’alls Foods and Louisville Vegan Jerky Co., on their websites, and make sure to keep up with their exciting upcoming announcements on their social media: @louveganjerky and @allyallsfoods on Instagram.