KC Masterpiece is a
barbecue sauce
Barbecue sauce (also abbreviated as BBQ sauce) is a sauce used as a marinade, basting (cooking), basting, condiment, or topping for meat cooked in the barbecue cooking style, including pork or beef ribs (food), ribs and chicken as food, chicken. I ...
that is marketed by the HV Food Products Company, a subsidiary of the Clorox Company.
History
KC Masterpiece Barbeque Sauce was created in 1977 by
Richard E. "Rich" Davis M.D., a
child psychiatrist
Child and adolescent psychiatry (or pediatric psychiatry) is a branch of psychiatry that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders in children, adolescents, and their families. It investigates the biopsychosocial fact ...
practicing in Kansas City, Missouri, who had earned his medical degree from the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
. Davis was born in 1926, in
Joplin, Missouri
Joplin is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, Jasper and Newton County, Missouri, Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. J ...
, and died on 6 October 2015 in
Leawood, Kansas
Leawood is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 33,902.
History
19th century
After the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the area ...
, at 89 years of age.
Initially, Davis named his sauce "KC Soul Style Barbecue Sauce" and the original formula consisted of only five ingredients. He later renamed it "KC Masterpiece". He presented his sauce to several
Kansas City area food brokers with the intention of marketing it to the public through retail supermarket distribution. During this same time, he also presented Muschup (a combination of
ketchup
Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and tangy flavor. The unmodified term ("ketchup") now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes used egg whites, mushrooms, oysters, grapes, mussels, or walnuts, among other ...
and
mustard
Mustard may refer to:
Food and plants
* Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment
* Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment
** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...
) and Dilled Muschup (a combination of ketchup, mustard, and
dill relish
A relish is a cooked and pickled product made of chopped vegetables, fruits or herbs and is a food item typically used as a condiment to enhance a staple. Examples are chutneys and the North American relish, a pickled cucumber jam eaten with h ...
). Most of the area brokerages were reluctant to give the upstart sauces a chance.
Eventually, Davis met with Jim Flynn of Flynn Brokerage, who sampled the sauces and immediately saw the barbeque sauce’s potential to introduce an innovative product to an underserved sector of the retail market. Flynn began a grassroots marketing strategy, targeting local supermarkets with food sample demonstrations. The barbeque sauce sold more than 3,000 cases (36,000 bottles) the first weekend, and the stores actually ran out of inventory. The two Muschup varieties were also demonstrated but did not fare as well. In the following months and years, KC Masterpiece sales grew exponentially.
In 1986, after nearly ten years of success in the Kansas City area, Davis received an offer to sell the KC Masterpiece brand to the
Kingsford charcoal division of The HV Food Products Company (formally known as Hidden Valley Ranch Food Products, Inc.), which operates as a subsidiary of the Clorox Company, with an eye to marketing the sauce nationwide. In the agreement, Davis retained the right to use the sauce in restaurants that he was developing. Of the several restaurants that were subsequently opened, all eventually closed, the last one in 2009.
Fox Channel 4: ''The history behind Kansas City-style Barbecue''
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References
Further reading
*
External links
Official website
Restaurant Website
American Royal biography
{{Clorox
Culture of Kansas City, Missouri
Barbecue sauces
Brand name condiments
Clorox brands