Page 12 - JAN2020 BBQNEWS Digital Issue

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THE WINDOW IS
I can only imagine you are sitting there with your co昀ee reading this over
your breakfast, perhaps even thinking about that excellent rack of ribs you had for dinner last night. What made them excellent? Sure, the smoke was perfect and the color made them Instagram worthy but you know in your heart of hearts, it was the rub which set them apart. It wasn’t just any rub from the store or even your buddy’s, but rather it was your special rub. The rub you put together hoping to take it to market. The one your spouse says is phenomenal and if you don’t start selling it now, you’ll be missing the boat.
You know marketing is key if you want it to appeal to the mass-
es. What is your hook to get stores to look your way to 昀ll their shelf
space? Being a World Champion would help, but you may not have that on your business card. What would be the next best thing to being World Champion? Winning awards would certainly place your product on the radar of those store buyers looking to add something new and you could be just the “new” they are looking for.
Every year the NBBQA has the Awards of Excellence with the winners being announced at the National Conference which will be held, this year, at the historic Galt House in Louisville. KY April 1-4.
As the attendees sit for a three-course meal on April 2nd the winners of Awards of Excellence will be showered with applause and have enough pictures taken which will rival a movie premier. The adage, “You can’t win if you don’t enter” is very true in this case and the window for entering is now open. Last month we mentioned all the di昀erent categories you could be a part of from sauces, to rubs to media to products and asked you to be thinking about which one(s) to enter. But if you are still on the fence about it, consider a couple stories where the NBBQA Awards of Excellence has made a di昀erence and elevated the brands to a new level.
NOW IS YOUR CHANCE
TO BE A JUDGE
This year the judging will be done in Byhalia, Mississippi February 8th at the Sweet Swine o’ Mine Distribution headquarters. What will make this unique is, you have a chance to be a judge! That’s right if you are a certi昀ed judge with any of these sanctioning bodies, SCA, KCBS, PNWBA, MBN or of the EAT methodology, then you can come to Mississippi to be a apart of the Awards of Excellence. What makes this so great is: 1. You get to participate in the judging. This has never been opened like this before. Honestly, many of us have been to busy competing to judge an event. Now is your chance to sit on the other side of the table. 2. You get to see what it’s like behind the scenes at a national judging competition like this. If you have ever run an event, then you know how much work is involved but if you haven’t, then now is your opportunity to peek behind the curtain to see
things from the judges’ perspective.
Make your plans today to be there. It promises to be a blast!
BarbecueNews.com - 12
JANUARY 2020