ISLAND ARC: AN ORIGIN STORY

Looking Back At Fond Memories

Many years ago, on one of my family’s yearly trips back to the islands, I stumbled across a pulled pork sandwich with sweet Maui onions and topped with guava barbecue sauce. It was amazing.

When we think of jerky here at Windward, we see opportunities to tell stories. Oftentimes, fond memories revolve around good company and good food. We tend to remember the way things smell, the way things taste, and the vibes of the moment. Island Arc was born from this retrospection.

Guava, for me, is one of those flavors that instantly takes me back to my childhood. I have fond memories of many, many breakfasts that consisted of rice, scrambled eggs, spam (or Portuguese sausage) and a big glass of guava juice. If I was lucky then there would be some papaya as well. These memories, of a simple breakfast to start the day, have stood the test of time. 

So as we thought about what our second flavor would be, we didn’t have to look far. We made a few changes to a guava barbecue sauce we recreated many years ago, added a little habanero and that was that. A flavor different from almost any jerky on the market, but all too familiar and loved by us. A flavor built from fond memories. 

Ultimately, we look at jerky as many look at a photograph. It can be kept for long periods of time but has the ability to transport one back to a certain moment in time. When it’s all said and done we’d love to be able to look back on our company and think fondly of the stories we’ve told through our flavors. Whoever you are, wherever you come from, we hope you make us a part of your story.