Leading Barbeque Brand Caters to Healthier Lifestyles with Authentic Southern Flavors
Lillie’s Q, purveyors of authentic Southern barbeque, today launched its popular Carolina Barbeque Sauce in a zero-sugar variety. Recognizing the increased demand for low or no-sugar eating options, Lillie’s Q creator and Chef Charlie Mckenna has eliminated sugar from his tangy Western Carolina style sauce, without sacrificing taste. The new Carolina Zero Sugar Barbeque Sauce is sweetened only with sucralose, combined with the iconic flavors of Western Carolina barbeque traditions like apple, lime, and other secret family ingredients. Lillie’s Q will sample the new Zero-Sugar sauce for the first time at The Fancy Foods Show, Jan. 13-15, at San Francisco’s Moscone Center at booth #6374, along with the entire Lillie’s Q line of sauces, rubs, meats and kettle chips.
According to Mintel, 33 percent of American adults are limiting sugar more than they did last year, citing future health concerns and weight loss as key motivators. Additional consumer research by Lillie’s Q unveiled that nearly 40 percent of consumers are following a carb-restricted diet, and almost one-quarter follow the Ketogenic diet, the extremely low-carb and high-fat diet designed to burn fat for energy. Mintel’s Sugar and Alternative Sweeteners Report cites that 22 percent of American adults are buying items specifically labeled low/no/reduced sugar more than they did last year, with 19 percent claiming that high levels of sugar have caused them to stop buying a savory food product, such as a cooking sauce. Data by Lillie’s Q reinforces these sentiments, with consumers selecting taste, sugar content, protein content and then the presence of carbs as the most important attributes in packaged foods, respectively.
“It’s simply not true that barbeque can’t be healthy,” said Lillie’s Q founder and Chef Charlie Mckenna. “Grilling and smoking meat naturally brings out the natural flavors of the protein and fat, while tried-and-true Southern spices and flavors enhance that. We design every product so that it complements and adds to the flavor of the food, rather than covering it up – which is often the culprit of unnecessary calories and sugar in packaged foods.”
Labeled #40 on the bottle, the flavor was inspired by Charlie’s regular pilgrimages on Route 40 from the barbeque havens of Memphis eastward to Shelby, Greensboro and Asheville, N.C. Here he learned the nuances of North Carolina’s “sauce divide,” where a slightly sweeter tomato-based vinegar sauce is favored westward of Raleigh-Durham, which made its way into his Carolina variety. The Zero-Sugar sauce is now available online in the Lillie’s Q store, in Lillie’s Q restaurants as a sauce option and will roll into retailers throughout the year, in addition to making its way into lighter Lillie’s Q restaurant side dishes.
The brand is the fastest growing premium barbeque sauce in America and is rapidly growing its retail presence to stores including national roll outs at Sprouts and Whole Foods, and recent regional additions such as Target, Albertson’s, Safeway, Kroger, Wegman’s and Fresh Thyme. For more information about Lillie’s Q and its line of southern classics, visit www.Lilliesq.com.
