Attention healthy-eaters, cooks, and folks who just plain want a little zip in their food. This week, MOAB Provisions, a local company founded by Southeast Missouri State grad Matt Edwards, added four bottled spice blends to its product line of “clean” beef jerky snacks.
The spices are locally-blended, gluten-free, and uncluttered by unpronounceable additives. Edwards uses real herbs for starters with no genetically modified ingredients. He doesn’t bloat the mix with sodium, nor does he use any MSG. He does use sea salt sparingly.
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He keeps it real. He keeps it clean. He’s eating tasty foods that hold true to his values of eating whole foods minimally processed for maximum health benefits. Keep It Savory keeps it simple, using black pepper and herbs to produce a complex taste. Keep It Spicy relies on a touch of cayenne to warm things up. Smoky chipotle peppers play well with hints of orange in the Keep It Zesty blend, while Keep It Korean infuses ginger and honey into the herbs.
These clean culinary seasonings will be available in the next week or so at Supplement Superstores, followed by a larger release to many of the more than 400 stores that carry MOAB’s Beef Jerky, an all-natural product that Edwards introduced in the fall of 2015.
So, how did a corporate up-and-comer in the convenience store business end up as an entrepreneur peddling jerky and spices? “I had always been a healthy eater, a gym rat, too,” he told SLM. “I’d be flying across the country and when I would get to the store, there was nothing healthy to snack on. Everything was loaded with sodium, chemicals, and preservatives, even the jerky.” Not only did Edwards (right) find the additives unappealing, the hard-as-wood jerky wasn’t an easy snack to swallow, much less savor.
“I like jerky. I thought I could do better,” he says. He did. His jerky snacks contain no artificial ingredients, no MSG, and minimal sodium. Edwards noted that an entire bag of MOAB’s jerky contains “less sodium than one serving of the leading store brand.”
We tried all three varieties—Original, Peppered, and Teriyaki—and found them fresh, pleasantly chewy, and delightfully flavored. All deliver a clean meaty taste, a softer bite, and a quick pop of protein. The 3-ounce bags are available at area markets including Lucky’s, most Dierbergs, and some Schnucks.
Edwards is currently busy marketing his new line of seasonings. Look for recipes and photos on MOAB’s website, Facebook, Instagram, and soon on YouTube, where he plans to produce cooking tutorials to show how the blends can be used.
Edwards uses his home kitchen to photograph what he cooks. “I eat most of my meals at home,” he explains. “Right now I don’t have a girlfriend, and I don’t like going out to eat by myself. Plus, my time is tight right now.”
MOAB stands for Mother Of All Beef. Edwards added “Provisions” because he plans more clean foods in the future. This won’t be his only trip to the dance floor. Clean eaters and cooks, put on your dancing shoes. The fun is just beginning.
MOAB Provisions
