Our Story

We're glad you found our site and trust that you’re a great lover of high quality meat snacks. But enough about you, this page is about us.

My brother Rory and I grew up wild on the lush South African coast. For the past decade, we’ve gratefully called Australia home. We quickly fell in love with the Australian bush and would often embark on camping trips with best mates Tom and Matt.

With a shared passion for health, movement and the outdoors, the four of us needed a healthy and convenient source of protein to fuel our adventures. We looked everywhere for a real food that would do the job, but everything we found was artificial or packed with preservatives and sugar. Not wanting to settle for less, we drew on the wisdom of our African ancestors to dry steaks, traditionally known as biltong.

Steaks were marinated, spiced and hung to dry in granny's old cupboard. A few days later we could not stop smiling (and chewing!), the dried steaks were such a hit that requests started flooding in.

Tying shoe strings together the Barbell business was formed; jobs were soon quit and parents concerned.

We attended local Canberra markets tirelessly, interrupting passersby asking “have you tried biltong before?” until we slowly entered Canberra’s collective consciousness. News travelled across the border until health food stores, gyms, bars, and butchers across the country contacted us wishing to help us provide Barbell steaks to the people.

We’ve come a long way, but have the feeling that the adventure is only just beginning, so please watch this space and continue to chew the good stuff.

Love the Barbell Boys,