CLEVELAND, Ohio -- What began as a Sunday family dinner sauce for his mother’s fried chicken is now one of the fastest growing brands of barbecue sauce in Northeast Ohio.
Chris Tarr started out by creating his own homemade barbecue sauce with his homemade ranch dressing for family dinners. Popular with family and friends, he decided to mix up a batch at a volleyball team picnic.
The sauce was an instant hit with teammates Adam Erickson and Casey Koza, who immediately began encouraging him to manufacture it for retail. Tarr’s brother, Michael, also came on board to help with development.
Eleven months later, Branch BBQ Sauce is being sold in 27 independent markets in Greater Cleveland and the young entrepreneur just signed a contract with two distributors who will take it statewide.
One of Tarr’s employees at the Lakewood company reached out to us after we ranked 79 barbecue sauces earlier this month, challenging us to taste Tarr’s sauces to see how they stood up to our top picks.
Tarr had been in negotiations with at least four restaurants when the coronavirus hit, “which pretty much derailed that part of the business,” he said, with a laugh. But as bars and restaurants are opening back up, he has been able to ink a deal with a popular local brewery which will launch an additional four flavors in the coming months.
Currently Tarr has two flavors on store shelves. Branch sauce is a sweeter version, while Branchero brings the heat.
Original versions of the sauces were made with high fructose corn syrup, but the company has modified the recipes to take the corn syrup out for a healthier sauce.
Tarr will introduce three additional flavors this summer: Executive Branch will be a golden honey garlic sauce; Branichiwa will be the brand’s version with soy sauce and a third flavor that is still in development.
“At the end of the day, it is barbecue sauce. We want people to get weird with it. Use it on everything and let us know what works,” he said. “By keeping our prices as low as possible, we hope folks will feel they are able to experiment with it.”
Tarr has no formal education in business administration or the food industry. Graduating college with a degree in English just as the economy crashed in 2008, he took the only job he could find in the small business division of AT&T.
“I guess you could say I learned how to run a business in the ‘school of life’ while working with clients,” he said. “The most valuable lesson I learned was never try to push to sell something. Just talk to people. Tell them your story. They will respond.”
Currently, the Bay Village resident hustles between three part-time jobs, a bar crawl business be began in 2009, his family’s tax firm and getting his barbecue sauce in stores.
“The sauce won’t sustain my family just yet. and my job at AT&T didn’t give me the freedom I needed to get the business off the ground, so I do what I need to do for now. We are growing quickly, so I am excited to think we have created something people are responding to, and so it has all been worth it,” Tarr said.
Branch BBQ Sauce -Photo by Yadi Rodriguez
Price: $4.99
Nutrition per serving:
Calories 90 | Fat 8g | Sodium 135mg | Carbs 6g | Sugar 5g
First ingredient: Ranch dressing
Bottle says: Branch was created by 4 friends at a Sunday funday volleyball tournament. They had been enjoying the coldest of beverages for the majority of the day when an idea came to them. They mixed BBQ sauce and ranch together while dipping all sorts of delicious foods in the newly created sauce known as branch.
We say: Whether you love ranch dressing or barbecue sauce, you will love this one. Tarr has managed to hit the perfect balance of both. You can smell and taste each of the individual condiments, but they come together to create an unexpected tasty sauce. Both kids and adults will enjoy it.
Buy it online at Branch Sauce for $4.99
This sauce is available at local markets and delis click here for a complete list of where you can find it.
Branchero BBQ Sauce - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez
Price: $4.99
Nutrition per serving:
Calories 90 | Fat 7g | Sodium 250mg | Carbs 5g | Sugar 4g
First ingredient: Ranch dressing
Bottle says: Branch was created by 4 friends at a Sunday funday volleyball tournament. They had been enjoying the coldest of beverages for the majority of the day when an idea came to them. They mixed BBQ sauce and ranch together while dipping all sorts of delicious foods in the newly created sauce known as branch.
We say: The “Spicy BBQ Ranch” version isn’t over-the-top spicy, but they didn’t skimp on the heat either. You can smell the spice the minute you crack open the bottle. You’ll still get the same, fun combination of cool ranch and barbecue sauce as you do in the original Branch sauce but the heat begins to build in just a few seconds.
Buy it online at Branch Sauce for $4.99
This sauce is available at local markets and delis. Click here for a complete list of where you can find it.
Click here to see our complete ranking of 79 barbecue sauces.
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Local barbecue sauce brand popping up at neighborhood grocery stores across Northeast Ohio - cleveland.com
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