CPG Project:
Delaney BBQ Hot Links
What: Smoked beef sausage concept
Where: New York City (Production: Vermont Packing House)
When: Developed in 2014 (Pilot phase only)
Overview
Hot Links was an extension of the Delaney Barbecue brand, envisioned as a way to bring our cult-favorite sausages from the smoker to the grocery aisle. At the time, New York City had a surprising gap in the market: there were few, if any, all-beef sausages available at scale. Our house-made hot link—a spicy, deeply smoky, perfectly snappy sausage—had become a quiet hit at BrisketTown, Smokeline, and our catering business. It felt natural to explore a move into consumer packaged goods.
We started to engage with FreshDirect to pilot a launch, and began scaling production at Vermont Packing House—an FDA-approved facility capable of delivering consistency without compromising the sausage’s character.
Strategy
The concept was to take a beloved SKU from our restaurants and offer it as a seasonal, high-integrity grilling product. Leveraging the visibility and reputation of the Delaney Barbecue brand, we aimed to own a specific lane in the emerging craft sausage category—one rooted in barbecue authenticity but refined for CPG performance.
This wasn’t just about scale—it was about control, reliability, and creating something that could live beyond a single restaurant footprint.
Product Development
Our chef and pitmaster Philip Powers led the adaptation of our original sausage recipe, working closely with the team at Vermont Packing House to translate a hand-crafted product into something that could be produced consistently at volume. The result was a better sausage: one that never broke emulsion, retained fat beautifully, and delivered clean, bold flavor every time.
Drew Heffron designed the identity, tying it visually to the Delaney family of brands with a clean, impactful aesthetic ready for shelves and screens alike.
Outcome
The product was fully developed, approved, and quietly integrated into our restaurant and catering operations—where it outperformed our original version in consistency and customer satisfaction. But just as we were preparing to scale up distribution, BrisketTown encountered serious issues: the building we operated in was sold, and all energy had to shift toward navigating that transition. Hot Links, while promising, was put on hold and never reactivated.
Reflections
This project reinforced an idea that challenged barbecue orthodoxy: that the best product doesn’t always come from the most romanticized method. There’s a deep reverence in barbecue for the lone pitmaster and their analog tools—but when we partnered with a science-forward, high-integrity producer, we created a product that was objectively better. More consistent. More scalable. More sustainable.
Hot Links didn’t go to market, but it proved that authenticity and innovation aren’t at odds—they’re co-conspirators when scaling craft into commerce.