Dear Pom! / Dear Karen!

Thank you for your extremely objective and fair review on Amazon! You obviously don't know quite as much. So let me explain.

"For example, you could read the product description on Amazon. In it, we clearly state that our manufacturing is based in the Czech Republic. The MANUFACTURING, mind you. Not the cattle. ;)"

"Furthermore, let me explain to you what the Chinese characters on the small pouch are about. It is an oxygen absorber. It absorbs oxygen. So that your purchase does not spoil. Such absorbers are hardly available in Europe, which is why we order them from China." 

"If you were standing in front of me, I would like to ask you if you have ever heard of label assessments. You can't just print anything on a label without any consequences. There is something called laws. Otherwise, it would be easy, wouldn't it? So, if it says 'Austrian beef' on it, there is also Austrian beef inside. Otherwise, we would be committing an offense. Such assessments MUST be done and they also cost quite a bit of money. So think about it..."

And ultimately one more thing: It would be so much easier and cheaper for us to buy "meat from God knows where." But we do not do that. We accept - honorably or foolishly - a lower profit margin so that we can stick to Austrian meat. You can find the reasons for this in this article: Why Austrian Beef?

"Oh yes, we won't have the packaging printed in Austria, as we would otherwise have to raise our prices. The same goes for the oxygen absorbers. If we were to buy all of that 'locally' as well, our customers would end up with a price of about € 9.50/50g, probably more. Nobody wants that, right?"

So Karen or "Pom", I hope this makes things a bit clearer for you now. You can go to bed tonight feeling reassured that YES you bought local and NO you don't have to worry about the money. However, next time you could buy a plane ticket to the USA and get your jerky there. It's definitely more environmentally friendly, cheaper, and more convenient.

With best wishes,
your Simple Jerky Team ;)