Why We Killed Our Best-Loved Product (And Why It Was the Smartest Move We Ever Made)

In 2018, we launched a product that seemed like a guaranteed home run.

Beef Thins—a paper-thin, crispy jerky unlike anything else on the market.

It was innovative. It was delicious. It had a loyal fanbase.
Within months, we had secured distribution at Whole Foods, Publix, and Kroger.
Velocity was strong. Social feedback was glowing. It was, by all accounts, a hit.

So why would any sane founder choose to kill it?

Because no matter how beloved the product was, the business case was broken.

What Customers Loved — and What We Couldn't Fix

Let’s be clear: Beef Thins wasn’t a flop. It was one of the most talked-about products we ever launched. People still ask us about it to this day.

But the deeper truth was harder to stomach.

Behind the scenes, the product:

  • Required extremely manual production

  • Had inconsistent yields

  • Struggled with high raw material waste

  • And carried terrible margins that never improved, no matter how much volume we pushed

We tried everything—new co-mans, process changes, pricing adjustments—but it wasn’t enough. The unit economics were upside-down, and the operational complexity was a growing burden on our team.

The Hidden Cost of Keeping a “Hero” SKU Alive

As founders, we all want to believe in the power of perseverance.
If the customer loves it, we can make it work… right?

That kind of optimism is great—until it blinds you.

What we learned the hard way is that every product comes with a resource cost:

  • Cash to fund production

  • Time from your ops team

  • Shelf space that could go to a more scalable item

  • And opportunity cost from retailers, distributors, and even your own team’s attention

Keeping Beef Thins alive meant compromising on all of those fronts. It was cannibalizing our ability to grow the products that could scale.

Eventually, we had to make the call:
We discontinued our most beloved product.
We walked away from millions in top-line revenue and lost prime shelf space in major accounts.

And it stung.

What We Gained: Clarity and Focus

But with that pain came something far more valuable: clarity.

By pulling Beef Thins, we freed up margin, energy, and focus to double down on our core meat stick business—products that had:

✅ Strong velocity
✅ Repeat purchase behavior
✅ Healthy gross margins
✅ Clear operational path to scale

That decision didn’t just protect our business—it positioned us to thrive. Our team rallied. Our ops got leaner. Our strategy got sharper. And we started building the foundation for what would become our next chapter.

The Pattern Behind Every Failed SKU

Looking back now, there’s a common thread between every product we’ve launched that didn’t make it:

  • The margins never worked

  • The operations were complex from day one

  • The idea felt like a creative win—but wasn’t rooted in long-term viability

  • I let emotion drive the decision instead of discipline

Every founder has blind spots. One of mine was believing I could out-hustle bad math.

I know better now.

Sometimes, Walking Away Is the Boldest Move

If you’re building a brand, here’s what I hope you take from this story:

  • It’s okay to kill the product you love.

  • Demand isn’t enough. You need profitability.

  • Saying no creates space to scale what does work.

  • Durability > novelty.

  • And you don’t have to keep something alive just because it once had potential.

Sometimes, the boldest move isn’t launching the next new thing.
It’s walking away from the wrong one.

And that might be the smartest thing you ever do.

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