Judging and attending the American Royal has been on my bucket list for the past couple of years. The American Royal is dubbed the World Series of Barbecue for good reason. It's the largest BBQ event in the world located in Kansas City, MO, with over 550 teams competing. Yes, 550! There are festivals, demos, music, concerts, just to name a few. I hope to make the trip next year.
An event this huge wouldn't be possible with the help of various sponsors in the industry. BBQ is a multi-billion dollar industry, and everyone is looking to elevate their marketing game to sell their own BBQ products. I came across a collaboration between BBQ Spot and the American Royal that should really excite the competition.
“BBQ Spot and The American Royal World Series of Barbecue® have announced a new partnership, launching the Championship Rub Program. The program was developed to bring the American Royal experience that Kansas Citians know and love to the rest of America. One winning team from each of the four categories – beef, pork, ribs and chicken – will have the opportunity to manufacture and market their award-winning rub recipes to stores nationwide and BBQspot.com. The new line of rubs will be available in time for the 2015 barbecue season.”
The BBQ rub and sauce market is a cutthroat, competitive business. Think you have the best BBQ sauce or rub? A secret, family recipe that everyone enjoys? You could easily bottle up and manufacture your own BBQ product -- that would be no problem. The tough part is marketing your product, and getting it into stores, and spreading the word so that consumers can buy your BBQ rub or sauce.
But if you're a celebrity chef or BBQ champion pitmaster, you obviously have a leg up on the competition because of name or brand recognition. Winning the American Royal would definitely catapult an obscure BBQ competition team into the spotlight. There's no better way to take advantage of that success than to sell your own BBQ rub.
Winners from the 2014 American Royal will have the chance to manufacture and market their own recipe BBQ rub, just in time to go on the shelves of national grocery retailers for the 2015 BBQ season. For the "little guys," that's a huge advantage and head start over the crowded BBQ rub market.
