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About Us

What is Alien Fresh Jerky? Where did we come up with that name? Why did we decide to use it? These are just some of the questions that we get everyday from people that pass through our little store in the heart of Baker, California, off the I-15 between Barstow and Las Vegas.

Alien Fresh Jerky is simply put, the best stuff on Earth as far as fresh beef jerky goes. People who have stopped into our store and tried our free samples have come back and said “This is the best stuff we’ve ever had.”

The name Alien Fresh Jerky (a registered trademark) came from when we set up our first store in the area of Crystal Springs, Nevada. Actually, it wasn’t big enough to be a store, it was just a shed with a huge billboard sign right above it which reads (the sign is still there) “Alien Fresh Jerky”. We were located on the intersection of Highway 318 and Interstate 93 North. At that turn off, about a mile down on 318, the now famous “Extraterrestrial Highway” begins (Highway 375). This is the highway that takes you to the off road into Area-51.

On October 4, 1996, we took a trip to the little town of Rachel, Nevada. This town is an Alien lovers dream, with the famous Area-51 Research Center and the restaurant frequented by many popular stars, the Little A’Le’Inn (also featured in the X-Files Area-51 Episode). We were there for a few hours, but we saw an opportunity for selling some beef jerky.

We opened for business around May of 2001, and went until July of that year. We were forced to close down because for one, we did not live there, and second, we were robbed once, then vandalized. We ended up buying a property nearby, but we got heavy opposition once we started the whole planning process to get a gas station going. We found out little by little that there is heavy local business influence in that area (there are only 3, owner operated gas stations, in which most of the relatives of the local county commissioners work). To make a long story short, it all ended in the courts (the Las Vegas Review Journal newspaper did a report on the whole situation, which you can view here.)

	In April of 2002, we decided it was time to move on, and started looking for a new business location. After many days of searching, we passed through the small community of Baker, California. There we stopped to get gas and something to eat, and as we were leaving, we noticed a little old abandoned hardware store, which had a sign "For Rent". We thought about it for about 15 minutes, and that was it.

In the beginning of our venture in Baker, the store was very small, and at times, uncomfortable. It took a visionary to see the future potential of that location. That visionary was the founder, Luis Ramallo. The rest of the family backed him up, and at times, even doubted the business would work. In the end, the business did work and is still very much alive. We are growing day by day, and as the pictures on the right can show, we have gone through very dramatic changes, including new construction and remodeling. The last few years have been very exciting and fun to watch just how everything has played out. The pictures on the right are: Top - the old hardware store as we found it. Bottom - The jerky store as it looked after the first / initial wave of remodeling when we started out, in the summer of 2002.


Baker California, unlike Lincoln County in Nevada, has been a very warm, friendly, laid back kind of town that is a pleasure to do business in. We are very greatful to the locals here, and we only hope to make Baker grow alongside our business into the future. Baker has become the official home of the Alien Fresh Jerky Store.