🔒Q&A: B.T.’s Smokehouse is redefining BBQ, amid food price spikes

Brian Treitman’s love of BBQ starts with its inherent role of taking cheap cuts of meat and turning them into savory dishes enjoyed by the masses. After two years of the coronavirus pandemic and increases in his food costs, Treitman has raised prices at his three locations, while still striving to provide value to his customers.

How’s it going?

The past two years have been rough. The Sturbridge location is doing well; we made it through the pandemic pretty well, but the cost of goods is killing me everywhere. We just had to raise pricing to keep up, and for awhile, every brisket sandwich sold was a loss. We have everything under control now.

The Worcester restaurant has had its challenges, since we had our grand opening about two weeks before all the schools closed in September 2020. That was like 100,000 people who disappeared from town. Just before Christmas, someone drove through the front of the building. Even though we were able to open within three days, we did have a plywood wall for six months, so it wasn’t very inviting. We had trouble getting the steel and the glass we needed to repair it, as well dealing with three insurance companies to figure out who’s fault it was and who should pay for everything.

How do you feel about how the businesses are operating?

I feel pretty OK about everything today. We qualified for federal Employee Retention Credits for Worcester; we just got the checks this week for the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021. The wait for those was tough, as they are about nine months behind. That was super helpful getting those credits.

However, all of the help was based on how much money you lost or didn’t make. In Sturbridge, we did everything we were supposed to do: We stayed open and kept everybody employed. On paper, it didn’t look like we lost any money, but our profits were way down, because of the rising cost of everything. As we tightened our belts, all the relief programs were expected to make things easier, Sturbridge didn’t qualify for anything. 

What has been the hardest cost increase to absorb?

My food costs rose 2.5 times, but I can’t raise prices 2.5X. I can’t charge $28 for a brisket sandwich. We raised our prices and are charging $13 now, but food costs are really high, so we’re making a lot less money.

To me, BBQ is supposed to be you are taking the cheapest cuts of meat and then you turn it into something wonderful that everyone enjoys. When prices spike, you have to deliver on that promise in new ways. We are going to reevaluate what BBQ is.

How do you do that?

We have been really good in the past to make sure we have zero waste. Even now, though, we are trying to figure out ways to use the things that have been trimmed out, just to make sure we are using everything.

We are looking at contract pricing with some of our suppliers. We signed an agreement with our paper goods provider to lock in prices for 16 months. Bill and I have been bouncing ideas off of each other, to try and make things better. We are looking at how we do events outside the restaurants, looking at both the quality and quantity of events. 

Are you running a risk of having to close?

No, we are going to stay open, and we are going to thrive through this. It is different challenges, and it is new. These are problems I haven’t had to deal with for the close to 20 years I’ve been doing this.

How have customers responded to the increases?

The customers have been great. I made a post about a month ago about why we were raising prices. And the response has been phenomenal. All of us have been to the grocery store and seen the price increases, so people understand. I was doing my personal grocery shopping on Instacart this last week; an order that would have cost $160 a year ago is now well over $300.

How is pricing inside Polar Park different from your Worcester location?

Last year, we tried to keep it about the same, and we just can’t. Our costs at the ballpark are much higher than the restaurant. We have a marketing deal with the ballpark, so that is a much higher expense. Our rent is based on the percentage of food sales, which ends up being higher than the costs at the restaurants.

How does the future look?

Between rising gas prices, and rising fertilizer and feed prices, it doesn’t look good for farming, which will impact food costs. I haven’t seen the light at the end of tunnel yet. I know it is out there, but I’m having a hard time seeing it.

I’m not down about everything; it’s just been hard. I have a great staff at both restaurants, and they love what they do. We are all family, and we look out for each other and take care of each other. I don’t want my tone to come off as everything sucks, because we are doing ok. It’s just there are a lot of challenges right now.

This interview was edited for length and clarity by WBJ Editor Brad Kane.