Natural Born Grillers

While vegetarianism may be all the rage among teenagers, older folks are going for the grill. Quicker than you can say "I'd like my meat well-done, thank you," carnivorous consumers are filling their plates with barbecued chicken, beef and pork.

"I call it the physics of food," says John Scroggins, editor of The Food Channel, an industry newsletter. "For every food trend, there's an equal and opposite reaction."

The "opposite" eaters in this case are attracted to a growing variety of barbecue sauces, according to Scroggins. "Rather than just using a traditional barbecue sauce," he says, "[grilling has] gone through many variations."

Restaurateurs aren't the only ones capitalizing on this heated interest in barbecuing: Many creative entrepreneurs are filling up supermarket shelves with sauces of every flavor for the stay-at-home griller.

"People would like to cook at least somewhat from scratch," explains Scroggins, "and with grilling, it's not like you have to do a whole lot."

This article was originally published in the January 1996 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Natural Born Grillers.