5 Other Protein Snacks That The Hermit Loves
A wandering hermit’s guide to clean, honest protein snacks
The world is full of protein snacks.
Most of them are… not great.
Some are sugar bombs masquerading as health food. Others are made from mysterious protein powders assembled somewhere deep inside the modern food system. And then there are the meat snacks—some wonderful, some dreadful, some admirable even when they miss the mark.
The Hermit believes a good protein snack should meet a few simple criteria:
- It should come from a real animal or whole food you recognize
- The ingredients should be clean and transparent
- The sourcing should make sense — environmentally and ethically
- And ideally, it should taste good enough to eat on a mountain ridge, beside a river, or in the quiet of a long road trip
We make calamari jerky because we believe squid is one of the most overlooked protein sources on Earth: abundant, wild-caught, and deeply nourishing.
But the Hermit does not wander alone.
If you're searching for healthy protein snacks, clean protein snacks, or high-protein snacks made from real food, these brands are a good place to start.
1. Fable Fish Salmon Jerky
Wild American seafood, done right
If you’ve spent time exploring protein snacks, you know that seafood options are surprisingly rare.
Which is strange, because wild fish are among the most nutrient-dense foods humans can eat.
That’s why we admire Fable Fish. Their salmon jerky starts with wild-caught Alaskan salmon from Bristol Bay, one of the most iconic and responsibly managed fisheries in the world.
Like The Hermit’s calamari jerky, it leans into a simple idea:
If the raw ingredient is good enough, you don’t need to hide it.
Seafood protein snacks still occupy a small corner of the snack world. But we suspect that will change. Wild fish are rich in omega-3s, highly bioavailable protein, and come from ecosystems that—when well managed—can be far more sustainable than land-based livestock.
We’re always happy to see another seafood wanderer on the trail.
2. Figure Ate Biltong
Regenerative grass-fed beef, the old way
Biltong is one of the great traditional protein snacks of the world.
Originating in Southern Africa, it predates modern jerky and relies on a slower curing process that produces a tender, deeply savory dried meat.
We like Figure Ate because they push two ideas that matter:
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Regenerative agriculture
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Grass-fed American beef
Regenerative ranching—done correctly—can rebuild soil, increase biodiversity, and produce better meat. It’s one of the few livestock systems that actually has the potential to improve landscapes rather than degrade them.
And biltong itself is refreshingly simple: just meat, salt, vinegar, air, and time. No weird powders. No filler proteins. Just a time-tested way of preserving real food.
3. Maui Nui Venison Sticks
Wild-harvested deer from Hawaii
Most meat snacks come from domesticated animals.
But sometimes the most sustainable protein is the one that’s already roaming wild.
Maui Nui pioneered the concept of wild-harvested venison snacks in the United States.
Their deer come from invasive axis deer populations in Hawaii—animals that damage native ecosystems when left unmanaged. By harvesting them humanely and turning them into food, Maui Nui created a rare win-win:
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Healthier landscapes
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Exceptionally lean protein
From a nutritional perspective, venison is extraordinary.
High in protein, very low in fat, and rich in micronutrients.
For anyone exploring alternative protein snacks, this is one of the most interesting options on the market.
4. EPIC Provisions Bites
The pioneers of the clean-label meat snack
Before the current explosion of natural meat snacks, there was EPIC.
And they proved something important.
They proved that consumers would buy meat snacks made from:
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grass-fed animals
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clean ingredients
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and recognizable food
Even when those snacks were… let’s say… not always the most delicious thing in the saddlebag. (We say that with affection.)
EPIC helped open the door for the entire clean protein snack movement. They demonstrated that people cared about sourcing, transparency, and animal welfare long before those ideas became mainstream in grocery stores.
Many brands—including ours—owe them a nod of respect for blazing that trail.
5. Lineage Provisions
https://lineageprovisions.com/products/meat-sticks
The obsessive scientists of clean meat
Most people don’t realize how many contaminants can enter the food system.
Heavy metals. PFAS. Glyphosate. Microplastics.
Some originate in the environment. Others are introduced during processing or packaging.
Lineage Provisions is one of the few meat snack companies obsessing over this problem.
They conduct extensive testing to ensure their products remain free from contaminants that quietly accumulate in modern food.
That kind of vigilance matters.
The Hermit cares deeply about this too. We’re currently working with LabProof to pursue one of the leading certifications for plastic contaminant-free foods—because microplastics are increasingly found across the global food chain.
Clean ingredients are good. But clean food systems are even better.
The Future of Protein Snacks
The best protein snacks are moving in a new direction.
Not toward synthetic powders and ultra-processing, but toward something older and simpler:
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wild seafood
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regenerative meat
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traditional preservation techniques
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radical transparency
In other words: real food.
The Hermit believes the future of protein snacks will belong to brands that respect the source of their ingredients—and the ecosystems those ingredients come from.
Until then, we’ll keep wandering, lantern in hand and jerky in pocket, always searching for the next good snack on the trail.
