Questions about us? Youll find the answer here: The Train Wreck Jerky Story THE BEGINNING: It began in December 2009 when Tiffany bought Ed a “top-of-the-line” 9-tray Excalibur food dehydrator to make his own jerky. Ed was always buying jerky at convenience stores but wasn’t satisfied with the taste or quality. He figured he’d give it a go himself. He was working as a Master Electrician at Home Depot at the time, and he found every time he’d take his jerky creation to work to share, fellow co-workers would beg for more. After 2 years and much encouragement from those who had tried it, Ed decided to begin selling his jerky to the general public. But there are many rules in the food business, and Ed knew he couldnt just make the jerky out of his home kitchen and sell it door to door. He saw jerky making as more than a hobby – he saw it as a way of life - and so he wanted to do things the right way. “THE JERKY SHED”: The state of Texas does not allow meat products to be made from the home for public consumption, so acquiring a commercial kitchen in which to make the product was essential; however, we (the Dixons) were unable to find a place close to our home to rent that was in our price range. That’s when we did some research, contacted the city of Wichita Falls, and found we were able to build a commercial kitchen (what we like to call “the Jerky Shed”) in our backyard. Countless hours of more research, guided by the TFER (Texas Food Establishment Rules) handbook and the city and state’s health department, assisted us in constructing this kitchen, which is complete with approved flooring, walls, and ceiling, a bathroom, a hand washing sink, a 3-compartment sink, 2 stainless steel tables, a commercial refrigerator, a commercial dishwasher, a commercial convection oven, & 3 commercial food dehydrators. All furnishings and items are NSF-rated, where appropriate. It took several weeks of round-the-clock work, but our little Jerky Shed had finally become a department of health approved facility. In fact, one of our inspectors once told us hed wished hed brought a video camera with him to film the inside of our kitchen as an example to other food establishments of the right way to do it. :-) LICENSURE: In March 2012, we were approved for our Food Manufacturing license from the state of Texas. Ed then took a course to become a Certified Food Manager, and Tiffany completed a Food Handler’s course. We also applied for our Texas sales tax permit. Ed also, along with a City of Wichita Falls Health Department employee, went to Dallas for training on HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points), a system put in place to ensure safe food production that every food establishment must have. More countless hours between the both of us produced our own HACCP Plan, as well as our SSOP (Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures). This further ensures the health and safety of our consumers. Texas Dept of State Health license information can be found by following this link: https://vo.ras.dshs.state.tx.us/datamart/mainMenu.do, then clicking “License Search. Our food manufacturing license # is 1008615. Texas sales tax information can be found at https://mycpa.cpa.state.tx.us/staxpayersearch/salestaxpayer.do. Our taxpayer # is 32046970813. THE NAME: We really wish we could come up with something clever behind the name, but its simple, really. It started with the slogan: Our flavor is no accident, and then we had to decide what name resembled an accident. Car Wreck and Plane Wreck Jerky just didnt sound very appealing, so Dixons Train Wreck Jerky was born. After several months, we took the Dixons off. After all, its not all about us. CHRISTIAN COMPANY: Who it IS about is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (ever notice the little Christian fish symbol on the caboose of our logo?). We give all praise and glory to Him. We don’t boast being a Christian company because we live in the Bible Belt or in an effort to draw in more customers. We just truly believe we wouldn’t be where we are today without our Savior, and were not ashamed to admit that. TRADE SHOWS: This is how our business really took off. Big event going on in Wichita Falls? You could count on us being there. The MPEC had pretty much become our second home! Our very first trade show was at Turkey Fest in Henrietta, TX in April 2012. Our first Gun & Knife Show came a month later, in May 2012. We have participated in every Gun & Knife Show in Wichita Falls since then. Other areas of annual participation include Christmas Magic, Hangar Holiday, Wichita West Arts & Crafts Show, Falls Fest, Ranch Roundup, Texas Oklahoma Fair, & Deer Fest. Weve also been to a few out of town events, such as Bowie Trade Days & the Larry Joe Taylor Texas Music Festival in Stephenville. (For a full list of past and upcoming events, go to trainwreckjerky/blank.html) WHAT YOU PROBABLY DIDNT KNOW: * Ed is also a Master Electrician with his own electric business (Eds Electric), has former experience in Nursing, and is prior service Army Special Forces. * Tiffany is a part time secretary at Fairway Baptist Church and has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Midwestern State University, where she served as VP of Psi Chi (a National Psychology Honor Society), a Freshman Ministry & Outreach Leader at the Baptist Student Ministry, and interned at The Childrens Aid Society and Teen Shelter. * Together we have 4 children, our youngest born November 2013. * Not only did we build Train Wreck Jerky from the ground up, but we also make and print our own labels, cut and seal our own bags, make our own marinades, make our own jerky (youd be surprised the number of businesses that dont actually make their own product), & we built and update our own website and Facebook page. (Dont ask how we find time to do all this! :-) ) Stay tuned for more on the jerky process and what all it entails!
Posted on: Thu, 01 May 2014 19:21:49 +0000
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