The Blazing Business of Barbecue,
or: Where there's Smoke, there's Sales

Evidence Mounts That Barbecue and Chile Peppers Are Inextricably Linked.

In 1852, a young bride left New York to live on her husband's plantation in North Carolina. Sarah Hicks Williams wrote to her parents: "Red pepper is much used to flavor meat with the famous barbecue of the South and the dish which I believe they esteem above all dishes is roasted pig dressed with red pepper and vinegar."

In James Beard's Barbecue With Beard, first published in 1954, all the recipes for barbecue sauce have some fiery ingredient, from fresh chiles to Tabasco Sauce to chili powder.

Former National Restaurant Association president Herman Cain in 1994: "Our surveys show that Americans are interested in trying hotter, spicier foods when they eat out. They're also aware of regional cuisines, particularly Southern. Barbecue has a perception as being an inexpensive comfort food."

"Hot and spicy barbecue sauces have become more mainstream in the last two years," says Andrew Jepsen, president of The Barbecue Co. Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona, and regional vice president of the National Barbecue Association for a fourteen state area. About four years ago he added Rattlesnake Red, a hot barbecue sauce, to his own Q-Sauce line, and last year introduced Jamaican jerk style Coral Reef Red. Now he says that the hot and spicy sales portion of his sauce business is approaching 20 percent, as opposed to 5-10 percent two years ago. Jepsen monitors the changing public preferences and tailors his products accordingly. "As food trends change, they mingle with ethnic trends," he says, noting that Jamaican cuisine has been influential in the past year, and that South American cuisine may be the next new trendy cuisine.

Char-Broil, one of the oldest sources for barbecue products, had no less than twelve hot sauce listings in their Christmas, 1996 Grill Lover's Catalog, both packages and individual bottles. Offerings included brands like: Dave's Insanity Sauce; Endorphin Rush; Mad Dog Inferno; Blair's After Death Sauce; Jump Up & Kiss Me Sauce; Mrs. Dog's Dangerously Hot Sauce; Iguana Pretty Damn Hot Habanero Sauce; Doc's Special Jamaica Hellfire Sauce; Trinidad Habanero Pepper Sauce; Bubba Brand; Scorned Woman; and the Pepper Girls series.

New Hot and Spicy Barbecue Sauces:

Banana Honey Barbeque Sauce: a smoky-sweet combination of bananas, honey and traditional spices from St. Lucia. Great on almost everything, especially shrimp. Tropical Temptations, P.O. Box 9746, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33310. PH: (800) 743-2793; FAX: (800) 743-2798.

Wing-Time's Bar-B-Que sauce: a blend of Wing-Time's original wing sauce and traditional barbecue sauce flavors. Wing-Time, P.O. Box 919, Davis, CA 95617. PH: (916) 753-0804; FAX: (916) 753-5817.

Bubba Brand White Barbecue Sauce: a basting sauce with a delicate flavor for use on grilled fish, shrimp, scallops, chicken and vegetables. Coastal Colony Corporation, 2041 Wappoo Drive, Charleston, SC 29412. PH: (803) 762-4151; (803) 762-2736.

New in 1997: More Smoke, Less Fire

All facts and figures were provided by the Barbecue Industry Association and are based on the most recently compiled data submitted by reporting companies and BIA estimates..

(Note: The exact numbers may have changed somewhat during the recent years, but the figures should still mark the trend.)

Right now, grillers and barbecuers are looking for more convenience, more safety and more versatility. Because they are easier to use, LP gas grills have shown steady growth in sales over the past few years. Most grill owners (55%) say their next purchase will be a gas grill as opposed to 29% who plan to buy charcoal grills. There is also an increase in smoker cooking, with 9% of surveyed people owning a water smoker in 1995, as opposed to 5% in 1991.

Replacement grill buyers also want upgraded models with more features. For gas grills there is more demand for large cooking surfaces, shelves, side burners, fuel gauges and grease catchers. Charcoal grill buyers want ash catchers, smoking ability and shelves. Following is a categorized list of features and products that grill manufacturers are incorporating to increase sales for 1997.

Where There's Smoke, There's Sales:

• Smoker boxes that will turn most grills into a smoker;
• Gas grills with built-in steam/smoker pans that use wood to enhance flavor;
• More and better water smokers being sold;
• Larger dry smokers becoming available that use wood, gas, charcoal or electricity a fuel.

    see also...

Taking the Kitchen Outdoors:

• Units built with more stainless steel for a contemporary look;
• Attached ceramic counters;
• Tiers of grids in gas grills for cooking and/or warming several kinds of foods at once;
• Side burners for cooking side dishes;
• Built-in delicate foods grids for efficient cooking of seafood and vegetables;
• More thermometers in grill lids to determine temperature without lifting the lidlowers cooking temperature and slows down cooking;
• Wraps for smokers to help maintain temperature in colder weather;
• Grills with back burners for rotisserie cooking;
• Porcelainized Woks for cooking tender-crisp vegetables with a smoky grill flavor;
• Charcoal grills with automatic ignitions and carts;
• Built-in griddles on charcoal grills for breakfast foods;
• Improved burner configuration to make temperature control easier for low temperature cooking, indirect cooking, or turning part of the grill off.
  

New Safety Features:

• Faster and more reliable ignitions;
• Gas grills with a mid-shelf underneath to prevent storage of a second gas cylinder near the working grill;
• Improved gas grill burner configurations to minimize or eliminate flare-ups by preventing direct contact of fat and juices with flames;
• Flip-up sections in charcoal grills for the easy addition of charcoal briquettes;
• Corning blocks to replace lava rocks or ceramic briquettes. They are honeycombed and large enough to turn over easily as needed for fewer flareups.

Barbecue Statistics

All facts and figures were provided by the Barbecue Industry Association and are based on the most recently compiled data submitted by reporting companies and BIA estimates.

WHO GRILLS AND BARBECUES?

• 84% of grill ownership is among younger, larger, higher income families who live in houses.
• 57% of the time, men make the decisions about purchasing grills.
• Women more often make the decisions about when and what types of foods to barbecue
• 59% of barbecuers are men; 41% are women.

Number of Barbecue Households: (In millions)

1987...63
1991...73
1993...71
1995...74
Growth: 17%

There are 10,824 barbecue restaurants in the United States, according to RECOUNT 1995, a service of Restaurant Consulting Group, Evanston, Illinois.

WHEN DO PEOPLE GRILL OR BARBECUE?

Barbecuing is one of the most popular ways to entertain, with more than 2.6 billion barbecue events annually in America.

The most popular occasions for grilling are: July 4th (81%); Labor Day (70%); Memorial Day (66%); and special occasions (60%).

Number of Barbecue Events:

1987...1.4 billion
1991...2.3 billion
1993...2.6 billion
1995...2.7 billion
Increase: 93%

Year-Round Use:

All grills...54%
Gas barbecuers...64%
Charcoal barbecuers...43%

WHAT DO PEOPLE GRILL?

Hamburger is the most popular food to grill. Steak, chicken and hot dogs are next.

Roasted potatoes, steamed vegetables and marinated vegetables, in descending order, are the side dishes grilled most frequently.

GRILL DRILL

Number of Grills Shipped:

Charcoal             Gas                  Electric           Total 
   
   1985...7,869,992     1985...3,173,000     1985... 78,000     1985...11,120,992
   
1991...6,301,723     1991...4,261,181     1991...142,734     1991...10,705,638
   
1995...5,321,924     1995...5,800,878     1995...261,267     1995...11,384,069
   
Decline: 32%         Increase:  83%       Increase:  235%    Increase:  2%                       
   
   
   
   

Types of Grills Owned:

Charcoal grills...56%
LP gas grills...55%
Natural gas...6%
Outdoor electric...4%

Percentage of American Families Owning Grills:

1987...78
1991...83
1993...83
1995...84
Growth: 8%

Barbecue Grill Unit Sales:
(Millions of Units)

1987...11.6
1991...10.7
1993...11.2
1995...11.4
Decline: 2%

• Grills are used an average of 4.5 times per month during barbecue season.
• Grill owners believe that charcoal provides the best flavor, but gas grills are more convenient.
• Gas grill owners cook out about twice as often per month as charcoal grill owners.
• Of the gas grills owned in 1995, 21% had side burners for preparing side dishes. This eliminates the need to cook anything in the kitchen.
• Discount stores are the most common outlet for purchasing grills.

BARBECUE FLAVORING

Nine out of ten grill owners use barbecue sauce at one time or another, and nearly 20 percent always use it. Hickory flavor is most popular, followed by tomato-based, honey-flavor and mesquite flavor.

Charcoal Briquette Unit Sales
(Thousand Tons)

1987...758
1991...753
1993...809
1995...824
Increase: 9%

WHY PEOPLE BARBECUE

Great flavor...91%
Like to be outdoors...73%
Change of pace...67%
Easy clean-up...61%
Informality...59%

All facts and figures were provided by the Barbecue Industry Association and are based on the most recently compiled data submitted by reporting companies and BIA estimates