Bacon's popularity inspires pocket-sized jerky
Bacon has always been a favorite food for many, but its popularity has skyrocketed in recent years with the development of products that span from bacon doughnuts to novelty bacon band aids and bacon alarm clocks.
It also provided the inspiration for Go Bacon, a new company started by a group of Brigham Young University students who love bacon. The driving idea behind the product is the idea that people need portable jerky with them - always.
"We wanted some way where bacon lovers can bring bacon with them all of the time," creator Derik Krauss said.
Go Bacon is bacon jerky that comes in pocket-sized packages. Other companies also offer bacon jerky, but he said the packages are large so it can be difficult to bring it with you, and carrying bacon around in a Ziploc baggie isn't classy enough for some.
Krauss took advantage of the opportunity to turn a passion for bacon into a business venture with a team of friends from his crowd funding class. They are partnering with a company in California to bring the product to life.
Bacon is a craze right now, Krauss said. While he has always loved bacon, in recent years he's observed an increasing number of advertisements for treats like bacon sundaes and bacon candies.
This isn't the first time the bacon trend has crossed paths with Utah - in 2012, Cedar City changed its name to "Sizzle City" for a day and Baconfest was celebrated on Granary Row for a day of tasty bacon appreciation.
There has also been a surge of bacon related festivals across the country, with nearly 30 taking place in 2013 alone between April and December, according to the Associated Press. Other fun inventions, like an alarm clock that wakes its users up with a bacon scent and sizzling sounds, have made it possible to enjoy bacon on a daily basis without even eating it.
"Bacon has always been delicious, but I think more recently bacon is definitely a social trend," he said. "People love bacon and so they kind of go to extremes about their love of bacon."
Go Bacon is also hoping to seize on another popular food trend by offering a sriracha flavor in addition to their original flavor. A recent Kickstarter campaign for barrel-age sriracha raised more than $100,000.
"We recognized that sriracha is a trend and we we've got bacon as a trend, so we figured if we put them together we probably have a home run," Krauss said.
The two Go Bacon flavors can be pre-ordered through its Kickstarter campaign through March 29. The group has already surpassed its fundraising goal.%3Cimg%20src%3D%22http%3A//beacon.deseretconnect.com/beacon.gif%3Fcid%3D156263%26pid%3D46%22%20/%3E</group><grou