While March 20^th marked the first day of Spring on the calendar, I’ve been very busy these past few months working on a couple of new product lines I think you’re REALLY going to enjoy all year long, starting as early as this Memorial Day.

What’s the tease?

It’s no secret that American’s tastes have always been on the move. From the latest ethnic food crazes sprouting from colorful food trucks to the posh confines of this countries’ fine dining palaces, today’s emerging cuisines whether they sprout from Chef’s wearing the traditional white double breasted Chef coats with starched toque hats or sauce spattered overalls and baseball caps are predictably anything but bland and boring.

Flavors are bigger, bolder and a whole lot more “sassy” than even a couple decades ago and you don’t have to look any further than America’s fast food scene to see its influence.

When you see the “burger giants” like McDonald’s, and Burger King getting a run for their money from upstarts like Chipotle, Pei Wei, Qdoba, Noodles and upstart Mediterranean chain, Just Falafal…you know something is afoot.

And we see eating habits change at the retail level as well. As a matter of fact, quite often it’s at the retail grocery stores where the “grass roots” of diet and taste changes are germinated. Don’t think for a moment that the commercial food service industry isn’t keeping a close eye on what you’re buying (or aren’t buying) off the grocery shelves.

Speaking of trends, another re-emerging food trend is Barbecue.

Barbecue has always been popular in America but it keeps reinventing itself in subtle new ways. An example is how “southern” barbecue flavors (sharp, vinegar based sauces) and “southeastern” mustard influenced sauces are now becoming more popular here in the north. Chef’s are also exploring new brines, rubs and smoking techniques.

Nino’s has been paying attention too. We see first-hand what immerging new sauce flavors are coming to market and where your tastes are changing. What you’ll probably always love, and what flavors are rising in popularity. We also see what’s missing.

As for me, I LOVE barbecue. And when Nino’s decided it was time to introduced a line of NEW barbecue sauces to Southeast, Michigan, I eagerly rolled up my sleeves and jumped right into the pit!

I’ve lived in this area nearly my entire life, and I’ve eaten A LOT of barbecue, not just locally, but from all over the country. As a matter of fact, most of my relatives have lived in the south, and southeast barbecue country for some time.

Unlike the out-of-town national barbecue sauce manufacturers, I live right here in town and not only do I have a good idea of what brands of barbecue sauces Nino’s shoppers enjoy but what the most popular sauces served at our local BBQ joints are like.

I do my homework.

After extensive recipe development (which were sampled with lot of ribs, brisket and chicken), we, with much deliberation, narrowed down the initial 8 flavor profiles, down to 3.

I won’t spoil the future launch (later this spring) with their names (…actually, truth be known, we haven’t really decided on their names) but I CAN tell you a little bit about each of them to whet your barbecue appetite.

In no particular order (because we love them all), one is sweet & smoky with a hint of pineapple, another is rich with brown sugar & honey with a kick of heat and the third, a Carolina inspired spicy mustard barbecue sauce which not surprisingly made every taster’s MUST have list!

We’re VERY excited about this year’s barbecue season and these 3 new sauces. And don’t worry, we’ll be SURE you’re kept up to date with their introduction. You’ll also have the opportunity to sample every one of them.

Keep your fingers crossed for warm, sunny weather and get ready to fire up the grill! New tastes are on the way!