Lillie’s Q restaurant opened in Destin, Florida in 2008, by founder, chef Charlie McKenna. The success of the restaurant led to another restaurant in Chicago, and bringing its sought-after sauces and flavors to retail in 2014.
It’s not surprising that the sauces have been popular. In addition to running barbecue restaurants, Charlie McKenna has racked up a series of Memphis in May victories.
The Lillie’s Q business has continued to grow with wide distribution through stores like Kroger, Walmart, and Publix. Now, the brand is going to enter the next phase of its growth journey because it’s being sold to OWS Foods.
When I launched Lillie’s over 14 years ago, the goal was to get the product into every household. We believe we have the best-tasting product in the market, and with the resources offered through a bigger platform, we are excited about the opportunities ahead.
Charlie McKenna, Chef and Founder of Lillie’s Q
OWS Foods runs a manufacturing operation for white labeling sauces and rubs, and also sells under their own brand, Head Country. They were started back in 1988, and then were sold to investment firm Shore Capital Partners in November 2020.
They have a 78,000 square-foot manufacturing facility Concordia, Missouri and a 30,000 square-foot facility in Ponca City, Oklahoma. Their corporate office and R&D center in Overland Park, Kansas.
The plan under OWS Foods is to accelerate growth of the Lillie’s Q brand by increasing distribution. There’s also a synergistic opportunity for Lillie’s Q to leverage the R&D capabilities of OWS to expand into additional adjacent categories.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction was led by the middle market investment bank Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL).