The Man Behind the Meat

Meet Warren. He is our CBO… you know Chief Biltong Officer. Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, he’s been eating biltong since before he had teeth and has been making it himself for nearly 30 years.

Now he’s living the dream making the most delicious biltong and taking American beef jerky eaters to a whole new level.

We sat down with Warren to learn more about him and his love of biltong.

Who first introduced you to biltong?

My Grandfather. He always had a special stash in their kitchen. I got in serious trouble one day because I had been using the biltong to train my friend’s new Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy. It worked really well (dogs love biltong!), but I learned that it is also sacrilege - akin to feeding strawberries to pigs. I never did that again!

How did you get into making biltong?

We had made it a few times at home in SA, but honestly, it is just easier to buy it from your favorite local butcher in South Africa. When I moved to the USA in 2001 - I missed it so much that I started making my own in earnest. I had to get refresher courses from my family and from my wife’s family on how to best make Biltong. We finally settled on a hybrid method developed from my father-in-law’s family recipe that has been passed down for many generations.

What is your favorite thing to eat with biltong?

Salt and Vinegar Chips.

What is your favorite Stryve product?

Hickory Biltong or the new Slabs that you can slice fresh yourself.

Finish this sentence: Biltong is best when…

It’s sliced from a slab.

What do you do when you aren’t making biltong?

Mountain Biking. Spending time with my wife and five kids. Exploring new food. I like traveling to new places with my family and friends based on new Mountain Biking sports we can explore and finding fun local food we can enjoy.

Nowadays, you can find Warren spending time with his family and friends in North Texas and working hard in our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility located in Madill, Oklahoma. It’s the Mecca of American-made biltong and one of Warren’s favorite places to be!

For more on Warren’s journey, click here.