KC Masterpiece


KC Masterpiece is a barbecue sauce that is marketed by the HV Food Products Company, a subsidiary of the Clorox Company.

History

K.C. Masterpiece Barbeque Sauce was created in 1977 by Richard E. "Rich" Davis M.D., a child psychiatrist, practicing in Kansas City, Missouri. Davis earned his Medical Degree from The University of Kansas. Dr. Davis was born in 1926, in Joplin, Missouri and died on October 6, 2015, in Leawood, Kansas, at 89 years old.
Initially, Dr. Davis named his sauce "K.C. Soul Style Barbecue Sauce", and the original formula consisted of only five ingredients. He later renamed it "K.C. Masterpiece". Dr. Davis presented his sauce to several Kansas City area food brokers, with the intention of marketing it to the public, through retail supermarket distribution. During this same time, he also presented Muschup and Dilled Muschup. Most of the area brokerages were reluctant to give the upstart sauces a chance.
Eventually, Davis met with Jim Flynn, of Flynn Brokerage. Flynn sampled the sauces, and immediately saw the barbeque sauce’s potential to introduce an innovative product, to a barren sector of the retail market. Flynn began a “grassroots” marketing strategy, targeting numerous local supermarkets, with food sample demonstrations. The barbeque sauce sold more than 3,000 cases the first weekend, and the stores actually ran out of inventory. The two Muschup varieties were also demonstrated but did not fare as well. In the following months and years, K.C. Masterpiece sales grew exponentially.
In 1986, after ten years of success in the Kansas City area, Davis received an offer to sell the "K.C. Masterpiece" "Brand” to the Kingsford charcoal division of The HV Food Products Company, which operates as a subsidiary of The Clorox Company. Clorox’s intention was to market the sauce nationwide. In the agreement, Davis retained sole rights to use the sauce in restaurants he was developing. Of the five restaurants that were subsequently opened, all eventually closed, the last one in 2009.