Today we’d like to introduce you to Eudell Watts IV.
Eudell, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Over the years, the highlight of our family barbecues has been in enjoying the exceptional barbecue sauce that we painstakingly made from a family recipe that had been carefully guarded and handed down over the course of six generations. Friends and family alike looked forward to those special occasions in which we prepared it. The enthusiastic feedback we consistently received encouraged us to share Arthur’s exceptional sauce with the general public.
Our sauce is decadent, delicious, and always made true to the original recipe first crafted by my great-great-grandfather, Arthur Watts. As you do taste it, know that you are experiencing authentic barbecue flavor, as it was first enjoyed in the early United States!
It can be argued that a full Century’s worth of effort has gone into the refinement of this sauce. Arthur was born a slave in 1837. His primary task from around the age of 6 was tending the cooking fires on the estate that bonded him. From this early age, Arthur continuously experimented with the freshest natural ingredients available to him to perfect his sauce to complement the meats he prepared over an open pit. When freed at the age of 27 by the Emancipation Proclamation, his recipes were the only possessions of value that he took with him out of bondage. Arthur left the south and settled in Illinois. Relying on the popularity and demand for his renowned sauce, Arthur took great pride in earning his keep with it until the time of his death at 108 years of age!
We believe that no single human being has ever put as much concentrated effort into refining a recipe, and we are proud to be able to share this important piece of history for your pleasure.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Time and resources have been our biggest challenges. Our company consists of my father, and myself. I should mention that neither of us has a background in retail food products. My father is retired after owning a trucking company 30 years. I dedicate evenings and weekends to Old Arthur’s, ensuring that this effort does not interfere with my performance in my actual day job. My father, therefore, is the primary force behind our sales effort. My role is largely in an administrative capacity, driving our marketing and online presence. I had to rapidly teach myself fairly complex graphics programs like Photoshop to create promotional materials, I also had to get on the job experience in social media to protect our brand, and learn the intricacies of the data and documentation required by larger retailers to manage our customer/supplier relationship with them.
We started on a shoestring budget, and with virtually no name recognition. Most barbecue sauces launch either as a spin-off of a successful restaurant or from a competition BBQ team that has had consistently good results on the tournament trail. We had neither to start us out! Our first year was very challenging to get traction and create demand for our sauce, but through tenacity, we sold enough to be encouraged forward.
We have intentionally taken it slow. Our growth initiatives have been cautious and deliberate as we feel our way in the market. We feel it is important to focus on protecting the integrity of the brand’s identity. We are excited by it’s rapidly growing popularity and strong customer loyalty.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Old Arthur’s Barbecue – what should we know?
We are a family owned, Chicago-land based, small business. The recipes for our award-winning line of barbecue sauces and dry rubs were first crafted over 160 years ago by our patriarch, Arthur Watts. His recipe has been passed down through our family over five generations. We proudly continue to produce our products, true to Arthur’s original recipes. Old Arthur’s Barbecue Sauce has survived slavery, the Civil War, two World Wars, through present day and continues to provide the barbecue enthusiast with the original barbecue experience.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Determination, follow up and attention to detail are critical to our success. Our product is unequaled in flavor. To sample us is to love us. Our biggest immediate challenge is to generate awareness and demand by creating broader awareness… giving people a taste of the sauce and sharing its rich history.
We are determined to work our way past anonymity, and become an established commercial brand with a competitive share of the local, then regional market. From there, who knows! In order to make this happen, we must quickly spot and then capitalize on an opportunity for public sampling through demos, tastings and public events. Then through exposure in the media and online. Then finally, acceptance and shelf placement with the large grocers. Seldom do any of these entities come to you, but rather it takes persistence and follow through to get their attention and gain commitment.
Once you are on their radar screen of the big grocers, they have a very thorough vetting process designed to evaluate your reliability as a business partner. The detail and patience associated with this process can be intimidating. The key is to have already developed the discipline around your most common routine processes inside of your own company. Taking a deep breath and then applying this same rigor to address their requirements goes a long way towards meeting your mutual expectations.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.oldarthurs.com
- Phone: 913-777-4227
- Email: eudell4@oldarthurs.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oldarthursbbq/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OldArthurs/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BBQ_Art
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