Meet Josh McGee of Y’all Company

Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh McGee.

Josh, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I hail from the small community of Rocky Hill in Knoxville, TN. My culinary education began just 4 blocks down the street from my family home in my Granny Myra’s kitchen. It was here that I learned the art of good food and the secrets of chicken and biscuits. Working alongside my Granny he saw first-hand the joy that her food brought to those who tasted it.

I went on to study history at UT-Knoxville while working in local restaurants. While in the restaurant industry I became fascinated with the fast-paced environment, the clientele, and more importantly… the food! After graduation, I relocated to Charleston, SC where he continued to hone his skills as a chef as well as learn the proper way to make grits!

I began to craft food in kitchens across the South and continue to combine my love of history with my passion for food. I am passionate about Southern cuisine and its unique ability to cross all lines to bring people together.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We started out in 2018 at the Cobblestone farmers market and we were a little sauce company with a big dream of sharing those unique Southern flavors that we grew up with.

We gained early success by selling out the markets we attended and then the buyers started calling. We picked up several stores in the Triad and then we got on with P10 Foods out of Atlanta which expanded our footprint to 5 states. We also started selling on Faire.com and expanded to 10 states, Canada, and over 80 retailers.

When COVID hit, there was a problem, We sorta put the cart before the horse. It became difficult as a small company to keep up with the retailers — Sales became a tad sluggish and the reorders came much slower than we had hoped, so we knew we needed to regroup and think of a different path.

So we went back to the beginning. We were most successful when we were connecting with people and sharing the stories about these regional flavors and the unique history of how they came to be. People loved the product, but they also loved the stories and the rich conversation.

As we’ve talked to customers and people we’ve connected with there has been such a great loss during the time of Covid. We realize more than ever that we crave connection. While Covid brought several hardships it also provided some interesting opportunities.

This is when we started Y’all Supper Club!

We’ve been impressed with Y’all Company, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Y’all Company believes great food has the power to bring people together. To unite us. We believe the South is meant to be shared. It is rich in both history and flavor.

Y’all Company is the owner of Y’all Sauce and Y’all Supper Club. Both entities exist to share the flavors that are intrinsically Southern. We provide two ways to try that unique flavor: In a bottle or in person. Y’all Supper Club is a “Southern Table Experience”.

It’s a private chef with a side of history available for small dinner parties and unique group or non-profit events in the Triad. Y’all Sauce is a collection of small-batch historical sauces that we use within our dinners and are also available for purchase.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck is necessary for failure and success… and money too! Lots of it!

Pricing:

• Our sauces are $9.99 a bottle
• Y’all Supper Club pricing starts at $65.00 per head
• Pricing increase with additional add-ons

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: yallsauce.com and yallsupperclub.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareyallco
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weareyallco

Image Credits
Micah Cash-https://www.micahcash.com/ and Liz Nemeth- https://www.liznemeth.com/