We know. You're like, "What gives with all the dried meats? (And sharks?)" Deal is, a few weeks ago, writer David Zax found himself as the recipient of several pitches from startup purveyors of various jerkies. What if, he thought, this was just the fleshy tip of the meat iceberg? So he went on a hunt to find out if there was more beefy, juicy spice lurking just beneath the salty surface. It turns out, jerky is a hot space for innovation, where we found a rare convergence of actual, physical product and next-level, out-of-the-box thinking. There's even a corporate behemoth (Slim Jim) to disrupt. Simply put: We're hungry for innovation. And jerky satisfies.

So we decided to spend a week profiling the savoriest, savviest jerky jockeys looking to take a bite out of Big Jerky. Jerky Week is our Shark Week. Along the way, we learned a few things--about the retail game, about perceptions and misperceptions of jerky consumers, and about our own masculinity. Here's a wrap-up.

(Read all five Jerky Week installments here.)

[Base Image: Flickr user Marc Hanauer]