New barbecue sauce expands around state

Monday, 23 April 2007

By SCBIZ Staff COLUMBIA -- Move over Melvin and step aside Maurice. David White of Columbia has concocted BlackMustard Barbecue Slather , and it’s selling at specialty retailers around the state and most recently in the Charleston area. In the Charleston area, Gita’s Gourmet, Boone Hall Farms and Market Street Munchies are carrying the sauce, which White describes as a next-generation evolution of mustard-style barbecue sauce.It won two Scovie Awards from Fiery-Foods.com in a competition against dozens of other barbecue sauces from around the country. White started selling the sauce on the Internet after concocting it for the first time at a Fourth of July party. The product has been in development for three years and hit Columbia retail shelves in July 2006. Since then, other retailers around the state have started stocking the sauce, which is also being sold in Florida and at an organic butcher shop in Darwin, Australia. White, who is president and creative director of H & W Creative Advertising in Columbia, plans to expand his barbecue business with a dry rub to accompany the tangy sauce. “We’ve signed agreements with a co-packer and are developing the commercial recipe,” White said. “We’re also testing some product names and plan to have everything ready to roll out by the end of May.” BlackMustard Barbecue Slather is being sold at five locations in Columbia, two in Lexington, two in Aiken and one each in Edgefield, Santee, and Florence, in addition to the three Charleston locations. White said orders were recently received from Fort Myers and Port Charlotte, Fla.