Business

Parkersburg sauce and rub company wins 3rd in competition

A Parkersburg company recently placed in an international taste competition of barbecue rubs and sauces.

Angry Ape's BBQ received third place in the Pork Division of the 2026 Rubs of Honor in a competition hosted by the National BBQ and Grilling Association and its publication, Barbecue News Magazine. The competition was over 10 days in the divisions for beef, poultry, fish, pork and overall, and involved 45 judges.

More than 660 entries from 80 companies in the United States, Canada and the United Arab Emirates competed. The breakdown was 148 in the chicken division, 145 in beef, 144 in pork, 122 in seafood and 103 in the overall category.

Things were looking bleak when Angry Ape's wasn't mentioned in the fish and chicken results, but then came the Pork Division and it was announced Angry Apes received third place.

Everyone started cheering, Mendy Hornbeck, who with her husband, Mike, co-founded and runs the company.

"Oh my goodness," she said. "We hooted and hollered."

Angry Ape's BBQ was established in March after several years of encouragement from family and friends. Everyone liked the sauces and rubs, Mike Hornbeck said.

"They kept telling us for a long time that we should bottle our sauces and seasonings," Mike said.

Sauces were the first recipes Mike concocted in his kitchen. Then came the rubs, he said.

"If we're going to have sauces, we got to sell rubs, too," Mike said.

Angry Ape's is named after their children, Arianna, Preston and Evalyn.

The rubs and sauces are made, bottled and packaged by a third-party packer and have an Appalachian tradition and leaning, Mike said. While the recipes are proprietary, they are made with ingredients generally found and readily available in Appalachia, he said.

"They are all my recipes," Mike said. "I created them."

The rubs sold by Angry Ape's are Appalachian Rub, Coal Country Crust Rub and Timberline SPG+.

Of the sauces, the original is True Mountain, he said. Other sauces are the Stone Ridge sauce with a base of maple and coffee and a subtle heat from serrano and cayenne peppers and the Ghost Valley sauce made with the extremely spicy ghost peppers.

However, the Ghost Valley is not so spicy that the food can not be eaten, he said. The sauce has just the right amount of spiciness from the peppers, Mike said.

"It's not going to kill you," he said. "It's not a novelty sauce."

The Sauces of Honor and Rubs of Honor contests have been held since 2010.

Angry Ape's is available online and in two stores -- at the 19th Street Meat Market in Parkersburg and at Kraft and Cents at the Grand Central Mall in Vienna. The company also sells at fairs and festivals, the latest being the West Virginia Honey Festival in Parkersburg.

The website, which is being updated, is www.angryapesbbqshop.com. The company also has a Facebook page.

Mike develops recipes and grills, and wife Mendy takes care of the business and financial aspects of the company.

"He likes to tinker in the kitchen," Mendy said.

"She's the brains behind the operation," Mike said. "I'm just the fluffy barbecue guy."