McClard's Bar-B-Q in Hot Springs keeps its century-old sauce recipe in a bank vault. The move reflects how family businesses guard intangible assets—and what that means for brand moat.
McClard's Bar-B-Q in Hot Springs, Arkansas, keeps its barbecue sauce recipe in a bank vault. The family-owned restaurant, a favorite of former President Bill Clinton, treats the formula as a trade secret more valuable than cash.
The recipe has never been written down outside the family. Co-owner Scott McClard said the vault holds the only physical copy. "We don't take chances with it," he told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "That sauce is what brings people back."
The restaurant opened in 1928 and has served generations of customers. Clinton visited regularly during his governorship and presidency. The sauce, a tangy tomato-based blend, has drawn comparisons to other famous regional barbecue styles. McClard's keeps its exact ingredients close.
Family members memorize the recipe and prepare it in small batches. No single person holds the full formula. The vault copy exists as a backup in case something happens to the family's collective memory.
"It's not about secrecy for the sake of secrecy," Scott McClard said. "It's about protecting what my grandfather built. If the recipe got out, anyone could make it. That's not the same as eating here."
The restaurant ships sauce by mail order. The bottled version uses a slightly different blend. The vault recipe is the one used in the kitchen.
McClard's is not alone in guarding its recipes. Coca-Cola's formula sits in a vault at the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. KFC's 11 herbs and spices are kept in a locked safe at the company's Louisville headquarters. For a single-location restaurant in a small Arkansas town, a bank vault is an unusual choice.
"A lot of places just keep it in the owner's head," said food historian Robert Moss, who has written about Southern barbecue traditions. "Putting it in a vault suggests they think about the business as something that outlasts the people running it."
Scott McClard said the family has no plans to sell or franchise. The vault recipe stays where it is.
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