In 1962, John Bonenberger founded Big “B” Barbecue in Chandler, Indiana. Big B was a full line barbecue restaurant and canner of barbecue pork and sauce in glass jars. The roots of Big B goes back to the late 1920’s when Floyd Baugh had the dream of his own barbecue restaurant. After moving to Indiana, he opened a barbecue restaurant outside of Chandler, Indiana. When John purchased the restaurant, he had a vision to take the Baugh’s recipe to the next level. In 1962, he developed the brand and began selling what is now a local staple, the barbecue sauce with sliced pork in a jar. He also worked to develop the original sauce used by so many today. In 1971 Big B was moved to Evansville, Indiana next to our sister company Farm Boy Meats where it still is today. The restaurant was closed and the business concentrated on the wholesale trade, where focus was put on manufacturing shelf stable barbecue pork and sauce in glass jars and bottling barbecue sauces.
The Big B brand was then expanded after the move to include Spicy and Smokey flavored sauces and pickled bologna. In the 2000’s the brand expanded even more to encompass the Frontier Gold brand which includes a steak sauce and salsa. After many requests, a sweet sauce, Sweet Barbecue Bones, was created as well.
In 1978, Big B was contacted by another barbecue restaurant to bottle their barbecue sauce. This was the beginning of the co-packing part of the business. Currently, Big B bottles several hundred barbecue sauce products, soups, salsas, mustards and pasta sauces for barbecue restaurants and private labels.
Over the years, Big B has produced products for Tony Stewart, Black Buggy, Bonus BBQ, Moonlite BBQ, Patti’s 1880’s Settlement and many more. As one of the few copackers in the region, Big B has been able to develop products for different companies from California to New York and bottle them in many different sized bottles to meet each company’s needs.
More than fifty years later, Big B is still a family owned business with the 3rd generation of Bonenberger’s learning the trade. We pride ourselves in creating high quality products with a local flare. Our family hopes you enjoy our products, just as much as we do.