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‘Que - The sweet scent of victory
Jul 18, 2011
To say that Pork Barrel BBQ loves barbeque would be a vast understatement. They don’t just love it – they eat, sleep, breathe and live it. And now, they smell like it too.
It’s been a fast and wild ride to the top for Heath Hall and Brett Thompson; the head cooks of Pork Barrel BBQ. Since entering the BBQ arena in 2009, the Washington, D.C.-based team has created a wildly popular BBQ sauce, won a reality TV show, created a cologne called ‘Que, launched a social networking site and has plans to open a restaurant in the coming months. Oh, yeah, and they were also just crowned the Grand Champion of the Safeway National Capitol Barbecue Battle in their hometown.
In addition, Pork Barrel BBQ finished in the top 10 of all four KCBS categories – chicken, ribs, pork and brisket. They were also named the Kingsford Points Chase winner.
In 2006, Heath and Brett were working for U.S. Sen. Jim Talent when they came up with the idea for Pork Barrel BBQ. A mere two years later, they launched their first product, Pork Barrel BBQ’s All-American Spice Rub.
A desire to see how they stacked up against other BBQ’ers and to help market their sauce led Heath and Brett to enter their first contest in 2009 – the Safeway National Capital Barbecue Battle. It was that event that solidified the quality of their BBQ sauce – they took home second in the sauce category.
Pork Barrel BBQ consists of Heath, Brett, Rex and Barbara Hall, Rex Holmes, Nisha Wagle, Bill Blackburn, Mike Anderson and Susan Thompson. The team plans to compete in 20 contests this year.
In addition to competing, Heath and Brett are also entrepreneurs. Last month, they launched a BBQ and grilling inspired cologne called ‘Que by Pork Barrel BBQ. They’ve also recently launched a social networking site all about ‘Que called BBQBackyard.com.
It’s this entrepreneurial spirit combined with their success on the reality TV show Shark Tank that has afforded the dynamic duo the opportunity to open their first Pork Barrel BBQ Restaurant later this summer in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Va.
