Hans Maas arrived in Canada from Holland 12 years ago to pursue a career as a plumber. That all changed with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“COVID made me unemployed,” he recalled, “I needed to do something.”
Maas had taken up barbecuing as a hobby and also created a YouTube channel called The Drunken Barbecue to share his passion. His specialties included hamburgers cooked on a shovel over an open fire and barbecued pasta shells wrapped in bacon and stuffed with ground meat and cheese – a snack he called Smoked Shotgun Shells.
Barbecuing was so enjoyable that he decided to make a business out of it.
In just over two years, Maas BBQ has become a textbook example of how to start a business on a shoestring. While it’s still not a full-time occupation (Maas has a day job at Eau Claire Distillery), last year its sales tripled compared to 2022 and are still climbing.
“The Drunken Barbecue videos are fun,” he said, “and we now also have a commercial presence, called @maasbbq, on Instagram."
Maas BBQ creates smoked spices for the consumer and wholesale markets. “Our smoked seasonings give food an extra depth of flavour,” Maas said. “The difference in taste is the same as the difference between a pizza cooked in a gas oven and one cooked in a woodfired oven.”
His products include smoked pepper flakes, onion, sea salt, peppercorns and smoked sugar as well as a signature product – SPG (salt, pepper and garlic).
“SPG originated as a steak rub, but you can use it on anything,” Maas said. “It’s a blend of smoked salt, pepper, sugar and garlic that contains less sodium than regular BBQ seasonings and works well on meat, poultry, fish, vegetables and even fruit.”
Based in Diamond Valley, Maas BBQ still carefully controls its costs. For example, to comply with the requirement that his products be produced in a commercial kitchen, Maas rents the commercial kitchen at the Griffiths Community Centre to set up his smokers when it’s not being used for local events.
“At this stage, it’s the most economical way to produce my products,” he said. “It also provides revenue for the local community centre.”
He started by marketing locally (Longview Steakhouse was one of his early customers) but soon expanded to Calgary and now regularly appears in farmers markets throughout the area. His website - maasbbq.com - has only been up for a couple of months and he’s already getting orders from customers in other parts of Canada and even abroad.
“We’re getting orders and inquiries from people and businesses in other parts of the province, coast-to-coast in Canada, in the U.S. and as far away as China,” Maas said.
While the rapid growth is encouraging, Maas is being careful not to get caught in the trap of growing too fast. “It’s getting to the point where I need to figure out where to put the brakes on without damaging the growth,” he said.
