The “Beefaholic” Story

“Hi, my name is John and I am a beefaholic.”

Beefaholic (bēf’ə–hô’lĭk) – adjective

A chronic disorder characterized by dependence on beef, repeated excessive use of beef, the development of withdrawal symptoms on reducing or ceasing intake, and increased ability to function socially and vocationally

May 2007, on my wife’s birthday. My wife and I were sitting on our couch discussing where she wanted to go for her birthday dinner. She was having some difficulty deciding. Knowing that we both love, and I mean LOVE a good steak, I suggested we go to a steakhouse. Along with my suggestion, I followed up with my usual witty remark. I said that since we are both basically “beefaholics” … Suddenly I stopped.  My mind immediately went into overdrive. I went to the computer, accessed my favorite domain name registrar, and bought “beefaholic.com” (.net and .org, just to be safe).  I can’t even remember where we went for dinner that night.

Once I had the domain name, I started to construct a website devoted to our love of beef.  I envisioned a site that contained statistics on beef consumption, information on all cuts of beef, cooking ideas and recipes, a blog for others who share in my love of beef, and hopefully a small stream of income along the way. During the development of my site, my actual, full-time job and family life started to rule my days.  This put a crimp on my creativeness towards my website. The site was shelved (for now).

 
Early HTML website header image used c.2007

2009: I’ve always loved grilling since my days as a kid helping my father grill in the backyard and it continues to this day.  My love of grilling and the meat arts evolved into the search for the perfect seasoning.  I began concocting numerous iterations of what eventually became known as “Beefaholic Seasoning”.  The final combination of ingredients, which is still the same today, has been tested on nearly all of my friends and family and they can’t seem to get enough. Once again, my career and family took precedence over my culinary endeavors and all was put on the back burner.

First product labels design c.2009

2012: I satisfied some of my grilling needs by entering the “Barbecues Galore Grill32 Challenge”.  This was a contest to see who could grill at least 5 days a week for 32 weeks. On April 1, 2012, I created my first video following the rules of the contest.  I renamed my seasoning blend to “Big John’s Grilln’ Rub” and I successfully completed the challenge along with eight others from all over the USA. The grand prize was a $30,000 outdoor kitchen design and installation by “Barbecues Galore”. The Grand Prize winner was chosen by a drawing from the 8 finalists (I didn’t win). Each of us remaining finalists received $800 for our efforts.

Temporary label during my contest catering c.2012 (don’t call the number, it’s long gone)

March 30, 2018: I retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department after 30 years of service and turned my focus to family and “Beefaholic”.

2020:  The resurrection and global grilling domination of “Beefaholic”. The look has changed but the blend remains the same. The future of the “Beefaholic” brand is to introduce the rest of the world to my seasoning blend and grow a community of “Beefaholics” and add some new ones along the way. I want to create at least 2 new signature blends and venture into the grilling tool space with branded products and apparel.