The Supply Side: Elkins family follows passion with food seasoning business

Barbecue is a way of life for Josh and Angel Dillon and their business partner, Jesse Paschal of Elkins. The Dillons founded Rub Me Raw dry rub seasoning company in July 2023 and have since had their brand placed on the shelves of some Springdale-based Harps Food Stores.

Paschal, Josh’s first cousin, came on board with a food truck business with the same name that features Rub Me Raw seasonings.

“I have experimented with seasonings over the past 15 years, mixing different brands and adding other spices in our kitchen,” Josh said. “When I came up with a really good rub, Angel asked me why I didn’t try to bottle it and sell it. I told her it was a mixture of three or more brands. She asked me why I didn’t break down the recipes and tweak them into my own. I took that challenge, and that’s what we started doing. It became a passion. We experimented with some authentic flavors until we found several we really liked.”

He said with all the regional differences in barbecue sauces, he prefers to stick to dry rub seasonings where the spices enhance the meat flavor as it is smoked. He developed a smoked salt and pepper version for Texas-style brisket, and he recommends it for ribs.

“We started a seasoning company because we didn’t find a lot of products out there that enhanced the flavor throughout the cook and gave us a good flavor after the cook,” Josh said. “We came up with a dry rub seasoning for pulled pork that does not require any sauce.”

He said the couple started making the dry rub mixes in their kitchen. Money from his full-time job as safety director at Midland Industrial Services and a savings account helped bootstrap the business. He entered a local barbecue competition with his seasoning at the urging of his employer and created a new rub – Kicking Cajun – the night before the competition.

“And we won the People’s Choice Award with Kicking Cajun rub on smoked turkey,” Josh said. “Because it was an award-winning rub, it was the first flavor we brought to market.”

He began working with a co-packer to try to bring the rubs to market. Josh said the first co-packer had a 500-pound minimum run, which was tough given he had five different rubs to bottle. It was a big cash investment upfront. He eventually found Texas Custom Spice which had a 200-pound minimum run and had more experience with small companies.

“We didn’t know how to do what we were doing as far as running a business, but things fell into place,” Josh said. “We got some financing from Arvest and were able to bring Jesse and his family into a separate partnership to run the food truck business, which features all of our rubs.”

Arvest banker Luke Fleming said Arvest’s Opportunity Fund was used to help provide initial financing. The Arvest Opportunity Fund, created in 2022, provides loans, lines of credit, and financial education to those who may not initially qualify for a traditional loan.

“It’s been incredible to watch Josh’s success during his transition from the Arvest Opportunity Fund to a place where he can now access the larger-scale capital he needs to secure long-term growth,” Fleming said.

Josh and Angel started selling the rubs at local farmers markets and any stores that would take them. It was slow going at first. Josh called on his local Harps store in Elkins and asked if it would stock his rub. It did. He then got on the shelf in eight Harps stores in Fayetteville, Greenland, Mountain Home, Springdale (two) and West Fork. The rub will be placed in Harps stores in Bentonville and Lowell. Josh said the eight stores took most of his inventory until the next run. Rub Me Raw-branded spices are also sold in some area meat markets.

He said Harps has been a great retailer to work with, and he hopes to get his products in their distribution center this fall. It is now direct-to-store delivery, which takes more time.

He said Harps took all of the flavors he had in stock. He has 21 different rub recipes he has yet to bring to market. Each spice run requires money.

Josh is still trying to get on Walmart store shelves. He did get some of products listed on Walmart’s marketplace but said it’s hard to get noticed there, and the cost is higher because of shipping expenses.

Josh applied for Walmart’s Open Call last spring through the RangeMe process, but he didn’t get an invite to Open Call. He said he will try again this year now that he is selling at Harps and has more insight into the retail game.

The partners cater events and sell their rubs at their food truck location in Elkins. The Rub Me Raw food truck will soon hit local festivals, fairs and rodeos. Paschal said he left a job in logistics to become a pit master and meat cutter for their business.

“I had been looking for a new opportunity that allowed me to be around people, and this is a great fit,” Paschal said.

Editor’s note: The Supply Side section of Talk Business & Politics focuses on the companies, organizations, issues and individuals engaged in providing products and services to retailers. The Supply Side is managed by Talk Business & Politics.