Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Gabrick.
Hi Mark, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Every Texas recipe starts with a story, and mine began long before there was ever a bottle with my name on it.
I came up in barbecue the hard way — learning from champion pitmasters, chasing consistency, and putting in long hours behind smokers in Kansas City, Florida, and eventually Texas. In Tampa, I ran a barbecue food truck that built a loyal following and earned recognition from the city’s Mayor, who regularly invited us to cook at municipal events. That experience opened doors to consulting opportunities with restaurants, collaborations with industry leaders, and eventually launching an award-winning brick-and-mortar restaurant concept.
Gabrick BBQ Sauce Co., however, wasn’t born from a long-term business plan — it was born out of necessity.
In March of 2020, a COVID-era mayoral mandate forced our food trailer to shut down almost overnight. With no dining room, no trailer service, and years of work suddenly at risk, I had to make a fast decision. Instead of walking away, we took the one thing customers constantly asked for — our sauce — and turned it into a bottled product.
We launched with three flavors: Texas Tang, Sweet Heat, and Spicy Red, each designed to work across proteins, cooking methods, and skill levels. Whether someone was smoking brisket, grilling chicken, or cooking indoors, the sauces were meant to deliver reliable Texas flavor without overthinking it. A year later, Candy Jalapeño® joined the lineup and quickly became a customer favorite, followed by Sugar Peach in 2024.
What started as a pivot slowly gained momentum. The sauces earned national recognition at competitions like the American Royal, won H-E-B’s Quest for Texas Best out of 2,500 entries, and eventually found their way onto shelves across the country. Today, our products are sold in over 1,100 stores nationwide, with continued expansion — including placement in World Market locations across 38 states beginning in 2026.
While the growth looks clean on paper, the path from food trailer to national distribution was anything but straightforward — and every step forward came with its own set of challenges.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not even close — and I don’t think it’s supposed to be.
The biggest challenge early on was simply survival. When the food trailer shut down in 2020, there was no playbook. We were learning how to bottle, label, price, and distribute a product in real time, all while the world felt completely unstable. Every decision mattered because the only safety net was prayer.
Scaling brought a different kind of struggle. Moving from small-batch production to retail shelves meant navigating co-packers, ingredient sourcing, shelf-life testing, logistics, and cash flow — often all at once. Competing against massive national brands with deep marketing budgets forced us to be smarter, more disciplined, and more intentional with every move. Mistakes could be expensive, and lessons had to be learned fast.
There were also personal challenges. As a family-owned business, the line between work and life disappears quickly. Long hours, constant problem-solving, and the pressure of growth can take a toll if you’re not careful. There are times when moments of progress felt painfully slow, even when things looked successful from the outside.
Retail expansion itself was another hurdle. Getting on shelves is one thing; staying there is another. You have to earn your space every day through velocity, relationships, and consistency. That meant spending a lot of time on the road, listening to customers, demoing products, and proving that we weren’t just another sauce — we were a brand built on craft and real flavors that are used at some of the top BBQ joints in the country.
Looking back, none of those struggles were wasted. Each challenge forced us to tighten our systems, sharpen our focus, and stay grounded in why we started in the first place. The road wasn’t smooth, but it was honest — and it shaped the business into something far stronger than it would’ve been otherwise. My wife and I like to say, “We do and we learn”.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At my core, I’m a flavor designer.
Before barbecue became my full-time career, I worked as an art director for Ogilvy & Mather, DDB and McCann Erickson, and that background still shapes how I approach everything I do. I think in balance, contrast, and composition — just instead of color and type, I’m working with heat, sweetness, acid, and smoke. Every sauce is built the same way I’d build a visual system: intentional, functional, and meant to work in the real world, not just look good on paper.
What I specialize in is creating sauces that are versatile without being generic. Each one is designed to work across proteins, cooking methods, and skill levels — whether someone is using a smoker, grill, oven, or air fryer. I’m known for building flavor that enhances the food instead of overpowering it, and for making sauces that both backyard cooks and serious pitmasters trust.
What I’m most proud of is consistency. From small batches to national distribution, the flavor in the bottle has never changed, even as the company scaled. That’s harder than it sounds, and it’s where a lot of brands lose their identity when they try to cut costs and cheapen ingredients as they scale. We have kept our original formula using the best ingredients we can find, like real honey, real jalapenos instead of powders and savory broth instead of watering it down.
What sets us apart is that we’re not chasing trends. We don’t make novelty sauces or gimmicks designed to spike once and disappear. Every product has to earn its place in the lineup, solve a real cooking need, and feel authentically Texas. Being a family-owned business keeps us close to our customers, and my creative background keeps the brand cohesive — from flavor development to packaging to how the story is told.
In the end, my work is about respect — for the craft, for the customer, and for the food itself. If something doesn’t add value, it doesn’t go in the bottle.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
One of my favorite childhood memories is going to Antioch Park in Kansas City with my dad. We’d walk through the park and peel bark off hickory trees — sometimes pulling long strips straight from the trunk, other times gathering pieces that had fallen to the ground. We’d break it up by hand and use it to season the fire in the park grill while cooking burgers and hot dogs.
At the time, it just felt like spending a simple afternoon together. Looking back, it was my first real introduction to smoke, wood, and flavor — and how something small could completely change the way food tasted. I didn’t know it then, but those moments around a fire with my dad planted the seed for everything I do today.
Pricing:
- $ 5.98 sauces at H-E-B grocery store
- $ 11.98 spices on our website.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gabrickbbq.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabricksbbq
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GabrickBBQ/
Image Credits
Gavin Peters @ https://www.gavinpeters.com
