Bel Air Ranch Herb & Spice Co.
Flavors currently available: Mediterranean, ranch, brisket BBQ, bird, steak and prime rib, blackened and smoky.
Contact information:
Website: EatBelAir.com
Social media:
Instagram @EatBelAir
Facebook /EatBelAir
LinkedIn /EatBelAir
Bel Air Ranch Herb & Spice Co. can be found in the meat department at all 10 Texas Central Market stores in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Plano, San Antonio and Southlake. All flavors are packaged in resealable 2-ounce bags and retail for $5.99.
Justin Anderson was an early entrepreneur. Going to high school in Houston, Anderson broke one of his braces on a hard cluster of his favorite crunchy granola snack. Anderson — a cook since the age of 5, learning from his Puerto-Rican grandmother and Cajun-French mother — went to work creating a recipe that was more braces-friendly and a brand of soft, bite-sized granola was born.
In 2005, with a $500 loan from his grandmother, he started his first company, Anderson Trail Premium Soft Granola and convinced buyers at Central Market to place an order. Anderson became the youngest vendor in Central Market’s history at age 18.
He graduated high school in 2005 and was recruited to attend Texas Christian University by David Minor, founding director and then-William M. Dickey Entrepreneur in Residence of the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center. Anderson was awarded the Horatio Alger Association’s National Scholar Award and Scholarship.
Shortly after college, he brought on a business partner with a background at Frito Lay and transitioned the granola brand to WOATS, repositioning the product as a “healthy indulgent” snack rather than just a breakfast option. The WOATS brand included a line of five flavors. It was a big hit for Anderson, growing distribution into more than 8,500 retailers including Target, Walmart, Home Shopping Network and globally at the United States Army and Air Force Exchange.
After going back to cooking during the pandemic, Anderson introduced Bel Air Ranch Herb & Spice Co. in 2021, once again partnering with Central Market, which exclusively markets the brand in their meat department.
Anderson spoke with Bob Francis, business editor at the Fort Worth Report. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Justin Anderson with his Bel Air Ranch Perfect Turkey kit. (Courtesy photo | Bel Air Ranch)
Francis: Tell me how you started this new business.
Anderson: Anderson Trail, when the pandemic started, we exited that through a licensing deal. When the pandemic was going on, I started cooking a lot more like everybody else. If anything good came out of the pandemic, it was that it forced people to cook.
I had gone through a couple of blends, spice blends that I really liked, but I wasn’t able to find those during the pandemic. I got my creative chops going and went to the bulk department at Central Market. That’s where every one of my companies has started. They’ve got everything you could ever imagine for any sort of creative food project. I started buying a bunch of different spices and herbs, and started tinkering away in the kitchen. The blend that I came up with first has purple shallot, green peppercorn, smoky Korean red pepper. It’s an easy way to elevate the flavor of whatever you’re cooking, whether it’s vegetables or any protein, chicken, pork. It crusts beautifully on a New York strip, or any steak or a baked potato with sour cream and butter.
I got the name during a trip to LA to the Natural Products Expo West in West Anaheim, California. I drove around the Santa Monica Mountains and we went into the Bel Air area. The blend tastes a little like an elevated ranch flavor profile, but we’re using the highest-quality herbs and spices.
Francis: And where do you manufacture it?
Anderson: The manufacturer that I work with is out of Arlington, and I source all the ingredients. I’ve designed all the packaging with 20 years of learning what works.
Francis: And selling it?
Anderson: How that really got started was I was at the Central Market Fort Worth, at their 20th anniversary event. I ran into my friend Marcus De Leon who now runs the Midway Dallas Central Market. I told him I was working on this spice business. And I had no thought in my mind to sell at Central Market at that point. Marcus’ idea was to sell this in the meat department, because the spice aisle is just overcrowded. Now it’s Bel Air Ranch, and mine is the only local Texas-made seasoning on the meat aisle.
In late September 2021, we officially launched at Central Market after we got production up and running. Earlier, in February, was when I announced it. But in January we had a big launch at Roy Pope Grocery.
Francis: And you began adding flavors?
Anderson: Yes, and we have a couple of seasonal products, a turkey brine kit and we did a hatch chile flavor during the season.
Francis: How are you marketing the product?
Anderson: My love is doing media, so I still do a lot of cooking on my YouTube channel. And Martha Stewart has republished some of our photos on her channels. (Editor’s note: Anderson has been particularly inspired by Martha Stewart, and in 2022 appeared on “The Great American Tag Sale” with Martha Stewart.)
Francis: What advice do you have for entrepreneurs?
Anderson: Do as much research online and through the library as you can on starting a business. No. 2 is to study the area where you specifically want to start a business. No. 3 is the best advice that I got from David Minor. His best advice to me was to get involved with your industry and trade association. Some industries have more than one, but they typically will have trade shows and they’ll have conferences. They typically have a trade show that has the educational conference built into it.
Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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