Nashville-based family-owned barbecue restaurant Peg Leg Porker teamed up with global flavor company McCormick & Co. to launch a new line of six seasonings and sauces, bringing authentic West Tennessee barbecue to kitchens nationwide. The line is launching in major retailers, including Kroger, Walmart, Meijer, HEB, Safeway and more.

In honor of National Cancer Survivor Month, a portion of proceeds from the line will support pediatric osteosarcoma nonprofit MIB Agents. Peg Leg Porker founder Carey Bringle, himself an osteosarcoma survivor, is using this national rollout as a platform for good, raising awareness and funds to drive hope for children who are battling bone cancer.

The new line includes:

• Classic Chicken Seasoning
• Brisket Seasoning
• Original BBQ Seasoning
• Original Hot BBQ Sauce
• Original BBQ Sauce
• White BBQ Sauce

To further explore the partnership and national rollout, The National Provisioner sat down with Carey Bringle, owner of Peg Leg Porker.

This national retail rollout brings Peg Leg Porker flavors to homes across the country. What were the key lessons in scaling your recipes while keeping the bold, authentic barbecue flavor intact?

Carey Bringle: We have been producing our sauces and rubs for some time now, just not on a national level. By working with our partner, McCormick, we were able to make sure that we could scale this brand. I worked extensively with the product development team at McCormick for over 6 months to make sure that the products that we were rolling out were a true reflection of our original vision. I think we did a great job in the process. If someone is looking to scale, I would say test, test, test, test. You can never have too much quality control and ultimately that is what will make you successful with your customers.

How did your collaboration with McCormick help in ensuring consistent quality and efficient production for national distribution?

Carey Bringle: McCormick is a huge company with a vast abundance of resources. With that comes good and bad. Sometimes they don't move as fast as we would like but with our partnership, we made sure to take the time to get the products right. They are a tremendous company to work with both from a culture point of view and quality control point of view. By working closely with their food science team, I feel great about the product that we are putting out.

As an osteosarcoma survivor, what inspired you to tie this product launch to MIB Agents, and how has your personal journey shaped your approach to this philanthropic mission?

Carey Bringle: Over the years I have worked with many different charities including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation. They are great but are very large and get a lot of support. I was first introduced to MIB a few years back and they really struck a chord with me because I had a direct tie to their cause. They are a small organization and so I wanted to do anything that I could to help them out. This product launch was the perfect opportunity. I am very lucky to be alive and would have loved to have had a resource like MIB when I was diagnosed so it is not a hard choice for me to support an organization that not only hits home but does great work.

Looking ahead, how do you see this national rollout impacting Peg Leg Porker’s brand, production strategy or future initiatives that combine meat innovation with social impact?

Carey Bringle: I am truly excited about the future. With a partner like McCormick helping us go national, I think that we will have a world of new opportunities. We recently purchased a USDA meat plant and so as the next step, we will be expanding the Peg Leg Porker Food Products portfolio. We love the social impact aspect and the better we do, the bigger we get, the more good we can do for a cause. The future is bright.