Carnivores Rejoice as Middlebury’s Beef Jerky Maestro Adapts and Returns

Hi fellow carnivores, I have some great news to share - if you're as big a fan of beef jerky as I am, the Grand Poohbah of homegrown Connecticut jerky has adapted to the obstacles that the pandemic threw at us, and is about to make a triumphant return.

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I've been lucky enough to get to know Westwood Sutherland over the past couple of years, I first ran into his product at Four Corners Grocery in Middlebury in 2019. Here's a photo, and the story of how we met -

I bought a bag of Westwood's Hickory Beef Jerky that day and fell in love. Listen, if your idea of beef jerky is Oberto, Jack Links, and Krave from a gas station, prepare to have your senses blown away. Every piece was fresh, you could tell that West's Side Beef Jerky hadn't been sitting in a backroom for months growing brittle.

Then, the pandemic.

I didn't see any of this wonderful product on any store shelf for the past couple of years. Why? The Grand Poohbah fell victim to the incredible price increase of beef. The wholesale price for his preferred cut of meat quadrupled, and Westwood couldn't, in good conscience, pass along such an incredible price increase on to his loyal customers.

I got some good news last week: After months of social media silence, Westwood Sutherland has adapted. He's experimenting with different cuts of steak and his blend of spices, and he's on the road to a comeback.

The name of his company has changed from West's Side Jerky to Westwood Jerky. There's a new website - Westssidejerky.com. It's important to note - as of writing this (2-8-23) Westwood is in Colorado continuing his education, but the work is happening behind the scenes. The new line of jerky should be available to the public in the very near future. I'm one of the lucky ones that took advantage of a special 'pre-launch' offer and got a few bags of 'test-run' jerky, and believe me, the Maestro from Middlebury has not lost his touch.