Twiggy Sticks: 30 years ago…
Who remembers going to the local deli and asking mum or dad for a bag of twiggy sticks to snack on for the ride home?
That was my childhood 30 years ago, and funnily enough, things haven’t changed a whole lot since – twiggy sticks still look the same, taste the same and have the same “mystery” ingredients as they did when I was a kid.
I now have two kids of my own, and not surprisingly, they have inherited their dad’s love of twiggy sticks. However, it was only when I looked at the ingredient list of one of these twiggy sticks did I realise that they are actually FULL of junk: mystery ingredients and artificial flavours.
…to Twiggy Sticks Today
I knew then that there was an opportunity to take the traditional deli twiggy stick and make it better. Better ingredients, better taste, better quality. The result: KOOEE! Natural Snack Sticks.
Our Snack Sticks are made with either Organic, grass-fed beef or certified Free-range pork, natural ingredients and less than 1g of sugar. No mystery meat or cut corners – just clean, honest ingredients you can trust and feel good about giving your family.
Most importantly, they passed the taste test of our harshest critics: my kids. They LOOVVEE them. 😍
What makes KOOEE! Sticks different to regular twiggy sticks?
You might be wondering now, what exactly did you change about KOOEE! Sticks vs the traditional twiggy stick? Why is our twiggy stick better from the rest?
To help answer these questions, I’ve broken this down so it’s easy to understand why KOOEE! Sticks are different from the traditional twiggy stick:
1. Meat:
The first thing we changed was the meat. Most twiggy sticks are a lucky dip
of mystery meat – the ingredient list may list the first ingredient as “Meat
(including 90% pork)”. This meat is often imported, and if you’re
wondering why they don’t specify the other 10%, trust your instincts.
Additionally, we do not blend different types of meat in the KOOEE range. Our Sticks are made with either all Organic Beef or all Free-range Pork. We also source our beef from certified organic, grass-fed suppliers, and our pork suppliers are all Certified Free-Range. No mysteries here – just the finest quality Australian Beef and Pork you can find.
2. Additives:
It is no exaggeration that most twiggy sticks have a long list of complicated ingredients.
Our “Organic Beef – Sea Salt” stick has just 9 ingredients: organic, grass-fed beef, salt, pepper, honey (<1%), beetroot powder, cherry powder, culture, rosemary extract (an antioxidant), and collagen casing.
This is as simple as we could make this snack while still maintaining a sensible shelf life.
In contrast, traditional products generally use “compound ingredients” such as “Spices” and “dehydrated vegetables” to hide how many different ingredients they use. Even with this workaround, Australian products will typically have 12-20 ingredients, with a deluge of artificial additions like sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, sugar, maltodextrin, milk powders, artificial flavouring, and MSG.
3. Allergens:
We want everyone (big and small) to be able to enjoy our twiggy sticks and our jerky. That’s why all KOOEE! products are made without traces of any major allergen (read more about gluten-free labelling here). We also list out our ingredients in full so that our customers know exactly what they are eating. Further, we don’t add any processed sugars to any of our products, so you can enjoy KOOEE! with confidence.
Ok ok, I’m convinced 😊
KOOEE! Sticks are easily the best quality twiggy stick you can find in Australia – perfect for the school lunchbox, for snacking at home or on-the-go, or during your weekend adventure. They are my go-to snack (when I can find them – often my kids get to them first!), and I’m proud that we at KOOEE! have made our snacks with taste and nutrition in mind.
Hungry yet? You can buy our twiggy sticks and grass-fed beef jerky at our shop here.
Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions – via email or give us a call on 03 6330 2255 (we love a chat!).
Enjoy, Shaun 🤙