Selling Bbq in this economy

[Mo Smoke]

With all that’s gone on over the last 2 years lots of folks have taken a chance on starting their own business. But with food and supply shortages, a changing economy, and a wide range of businesses struggling to find employees, lots of places going out of business, do you guys think now is a good (or bad) time to start a Bbq business? What about the type of Bbq business.. food truck, festival vendor, take out joint, sit down restaurant, catering, selling from home. Do you think one of these formats would work but not the other ? Know anyone who has done it? How has it worked out?


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[ThinBlue]

Hey Mo!
I think that would be a really tough question to answer since what you are asking is largely driven by your local economy. Where I live might have some shortages but it might pale in comparison to someone else who's nearest grocery is nearly an hour away in a town with a low population. Also, there is a certain amount of geospatial analytics that I would be bathing in to make sure I was putting my best foot forward. I think the easiest guage is to look around and see if there are folks around you not just making it work but thriving. If someone is thriving then they are soaking up a lot of the market share and some of that can be yours, if you're smart about it and appeal to the same demographic.

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[Mo Smoke]

Thanks for responding bro..Cant argue with anything you said. With so many variables answers could be all over the place. But just to make it easy on anyone looking to chime in, just base your response on what you know or see going on in your area, places you may have visited, things you’ve heard, or just your overall opinion, whatever. Don’t worry I’m not gonna sink my last few coins on a business and blame anyone here if it goes bad [emoji1787]. Just wondering what your eyes and ears and telling you. Anybody been to one of the annual big bbq comps or festivals lately? Wonder if the crowds dropped significantly or just as packed as before.


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[hogaboomer]

I recently built a personal use smoker for a guy that runs a food trailer, their business is booming. He just bought a $26,000 rotisserie smoker that he can cook 20 briskets on at a time. They sell brisket tacos that are really good, and they sell some other concoctions, too. They just spent a week at the Southeast Texas State Fair. If you have good food, it will sell.

[Mo Smoke]

Wow. $26000 for a smoker. That baby better do a lot more than cook my dinner ! Man I would love to hear him spit out some numbers about the business. Wonder how much he made in that week at the fair..Any idea how long he’s been selling bbq?


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[Dirtytires]

Anything CAN be done.

With that said, the answer to the question of "would I do it" has to be no. Absolutely not. Just read an article about a well known BBQ house that said it has raised the price of its brisket sandwich over 60% in the last 12 months. Food prices, fuel, energy and wages are all factored in and the result is a product that is getting priced out of reach of many people.

For me, too many unknowns. You could price out a future catering event today and end up loosing money on it due to current pricing instability. Without a lot of experience on the business side of things, I think it would be tough to cover all your expenses and still walk home with a respectable profit.

[SheffSmoker]

I'll let you know in a few months time - I'm in the process of starting to sell from home, with a view to catering events later once I build the behemoth.

In the UK things are quite a bit different, as the true BBQ restaurants are few and far between, and since I've been smoking my own I'm turning my nose up at their brisket. Every place here seem to use pellet smokers and it just doesn't have the taste, texture or look of ours.

It seeems a real mixed bag here too - I've seen some successful chains close certain places down, but the flipside seen some new ones open who all seem to have a decent crowd coming and going.

I've done my sums with raw product, fuel and making a bit of profit and I'm still under half the price of true BBQ restaurants here. Done taste tests with friends and family who all say I should open a shop!

[hogaboomer]

Wow. $26000 for a smoker. That baby better do a lot more than cook my dinner ! Man I would love to hear him spit out some numbers about the business. Wonder how much he made in that week at the fair..Any idea how long he’s been selling bbq?


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It's totally automatic, all he does is load up the meat and push a button and the smoker does the rest. Set it and forget it, come back in 12 hours to perfect brisket. I didn't think it was very smoky tasting, but I only tried the automatic brisket once. Plus, it's on a trailer, and the whole smoker is stainless steel. It's a Southern Pride brand smoker. I don't know how much money they're making, but they must be doing pretty good. Their star is definitely on the rise.

[Mo Smoke]

Yeah I would bet my money on a stick burner Brisket over an automatic rotisserie everytime. But that being said, he’s not being judged for having this best brisket. He’s being judged for having a product that he can sell at a fair. By the time he chops the meat up, tosses it over nachos and smothers it with cheese, he’s laughing all the way to the bank at all of us chasing the perfect smoke ring and great bark.

A lot to overcome right now when it comes to developing a profitable business. The prices of food are not only getting higher, but you never know what will be unavailable from week to week. I wonder if this continues will people stop eating out as much and start cooking more.

I don’t think it’s impossible to make money selling bbq but I do think choosing the right format, the right items to sell, infrastructure, location, and competition are even more critical now than they have ever been.


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[ThinBlue]

Where I'm at the bbq culture is almost non-existent compared to Texas and anything east of it. Maybe DirtyTires has a different read or opinion on us over here, but there really isn't much here that I would label as great bbq and I don't feel like enough people care. So, I wouldn't start a business personally because I just don't think there is enough support for it to thrive. It could survive but not thrive.

There is a guy locally that started off by catering and is now running a legit offset in his food truck, The Barking Cow, and I'm curious how successful he will be.

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[Pete Mazz]

I'll soon be able to play around on a large Southern Pride smoker (XLR-1400). I'll let you all know how it performs.

[Mo Smoke]

Thin Blue what area are you in? How long has the guy you mentioned been catering? and running his food truck? Can’t wait to hear more about this because it’s a spot where there isn’t much competition, but also not much interest in bbq. But everybody has to eat, so good food will draw interest sooner or later, but the numbers still gotta add up to make a successful business.


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[ThinBlue]

I'm in Phoenix, Arizona. Here's a link to a write up on the guy as well as mentions of another company that is rumor to have some good barbecue. I haven't made it to that joint yet so I can't attest.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/enterta ... 773433001/

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[hogaboomer]

You guys need to put your locations in your profile. It doesn't do much good to say 'around here' when nobody can see where you're at.

[Mo Smoke]

I’m near West Palm Beach, Florida.

Good article. Only been out there a short time I see. I wish them well and hope they are successful. I think bbq is the most universal food in the world. If that meat is good, somebody is gonna want it.


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[towtruck]

There are a few small full time businesses and a couple places that cook on Fridays near me but it's all quick and easy BBQ not smoked meats. There is one place that does do a little smoking of the meat but nobody is killing it around here. Even a big bbq chain restaurant failed because the cook sucked.

There have been a few really small bbq operations that never lasted long as the product was just okay and the prices high. The people here just don't know what good smoked meat is as a population. Pellet smokers have been a big deal with back yard guys because of the ease of use. They don't know what they are missing for smoke flavor with those units but its a step up for them so they love them. There are a lot of backyard stick or charcoal smokers around if you know where to look (my house for one).....and I have turned a few folks on to smoking over the years.

I smoked three racks of ribs and gave some to a female co-worker on Thursday and she loved them......then her husband's friend gave her some of his ribs to try and she gave me one......the meat was tender and moist and that was about it, no rub and store bought sauce made them just okay to eat. I'm not sure of the guys method he used but only getting one of three elements correct does not cut it in my book. I think too many people here just don't know what good bbq is...hell, I'm sure mine is not top tier either.

I have a co-worker that specializes in Tri tip roasts for weddings and parties. The guy knows how to make a tasty trip-tip. He cooks them over gas heat in a big Santa Maria grill on a trailer.

I did the math on opening a smoked rib business where I would pre-smoke a bunch of ribs at home on my smoker in the morning. I was then going to set up someplace in town and take those racks out and steam them over the coals on the bbq in pans to heat them up and then sauce them on the grill and serve them hot by the rack or by the bone. My break even number was over $1.25 a bone if I remember correctly. That was for the meat and all the supplies to make them and not packaging to serve them. There just was not enough meat on the bone (pun intended) for me to "make money". I figured I could sell 20-40 racks a day three days a week. My smoker was not up to that task and a bigger one would have to be made. If I was retired right now I think it would be fun to try and make a go with it and see if the business would support itself, it's not something I would do as a sole means of income. I would also do it differently now and cook and serve all at once off the trailer. I would sell any unsold racks cold the next day for anyone that wants a take home package.

I have two really secure meat suppliers in the area that would keep me stocked really well so the worry of short supply is not there.

I'm in the very far north area of California in cattle country with a city of decent population near me......looking at others that have tried you have to be a full service business to get the lunch time crowd to stop. You can't do it just selling meat.....you have to sell the lunch. The dinner crowd may buy your meat to serve at home but they too want the sides to go with it.....sides mean more costs.....and it snowballs from there. Now your up to a food truck size operation.....all I wanted to do was sell a dang rib

[Frank_Cox]

I'm in Phoenix, Arizona. Here's a link to a write up on the guy as well as mentions of another company that is rumor to have some good barbecue. I haven't made it to that joint yet so I can't attest.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/enterta ... 773433001/

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Great thread guys!
I’ve actually eaten there. Was back at the end of January.
Me and Aaron from voigtmetal went there.

Was right up there with all the best joints I’ve been to!

He’s smoking on 3 moberg 1000 gallons. Only had the 1 when I was there though.

Here’s some pics:












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[Frank_Cox]

I’m near West Palm Beach, Florida.

Good article. Only been out there a short time I see. I wish them well and hope they are successful. I think bbq is the most universal food in the world. If that meat is good, somebody is gonna want it.


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Sorry for the double post but I forgot about another place coming Soon near west palm beach.
Tom Built a 1000 gallon Offset for Cleveland Stubbs who’s opening a place down there soon.
I don’t have pics of the smoker though.


I think I’m an economy like this one as long as you start small and build the business lean you’ll do well.
The main reason most businesses in this industry fail is their infrastructure got too big and they couldn’t react to raising prices, increased labor costs, and lack of people to hire.
Keeping in mind that most things are cyclical we should be able to assume things should correct at some point.
I would think if starting out now but keeping lean would pay off when things start to correct.
Also supplementing sales with products like shirts, hats, rub, sauce, etc for the fans that swing through helps as well.


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[towtruck]

Good point about selling sauce and other things to help out. There was a rib joint is used to eat at when I traveled and they started selling their sauce and I would buy one every time I ate there. I have thought about bottling my sauce but the hoops you have to jump through to do that right are enormous. I think the regulations scare me more than anything......it's what has kept me working for others my whole life...I'm too chicken to go it alone.

[Frank_Cox]

If anyone wants to bottle sauce or rub there’s a couple places you can go that do it for ya.
They are called co-packers.
Here’s a couple:

The Shed BBQ aka The Saucery in Ocean Springs, MS.

Code 3 spices in Collinsville, IL.

Old World Seasonings in Concordia, MO

Pork Mafia, Chicago, IL.

They do all the hard work and compliance for ya.


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[ThinBlue]

Thanks for sharing that Frank!

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