Article
Texas Tech grad transforms shipping container into barbecue biz
Three months ago, 25-year-old Zach Bergenholtz converted a 45-foot shipping container into a barbecue joint and is now serving more than 2,000 North Dallas customers per week.
February 11, 2020 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com
Although barbecue could be considered a staple in most Texan diets, Zach Bergenholtz found most of the offerings to be too similar and was inspired to do something different. The 25-year-old Texas Tech grad converted a 45-foot shipping container into a barbecue joint.
The result is Blu's Barbecue, which opened just a few months ago in North Dallas, serving a variety of smoked meat including exotic options such as quail, venison, alligator, rattlesnake and whole hog.
"I saw a niche that is allowing me to serve Dallas Ft. Worth's BBQ lovers with options they cannot obtain elsewhere," he said in an interview with FastCasual. "To me, this is a lot of fun and allows me to express my creativity through my many different types of meat and homemade sides."
Bergenholtz, a self-described "techie," opened the restaurant just the money he earned throughout his college career — he day traded cryptocurrencies while running a catering business.
"I became the go-to BBQ guru for fraternities and sororities for everything BBQ," he said.
After graduating and moving to Dallas, Bergenholtz continued to grow the catering business, which included preparing Cajun boils featuring thousands of pounds of crawfish over the last few years. He's now rolling out his own crawfish seasoning with a barbecue twist.
"After being asked by many of the employees of my clients I finally decided it was time to open my brick-and-mortar location in North Dallas that is now serving over 2,000 BBQ lovers each week," he said.
Since Blu's opened, Bergenholtz said several investors have approached him, so the once "self-funder" may consider outside financing options as he grows the business to six company-owned units. He's already negotiating the purchase and lease of existing buildings for his next two locations, which are on target to open by late summer.
Why a shipping container?
Converting a shipping container to a commercial kitchen was less expensive than typical construction, Bergenholtz said, as he had sub-space to work with for the water lines, sewer lines and gas lines. He was permit-approved and final in less than 30 days despite having to re-engineer the container to give it a fire exit door, a large sales window, a walk-up window and the interior finish with 100% stainless steel walls. 
"We also had to engineer the foundation and ventilation systems as well as added plumbing, gas lines and electrical," said Bergenholtz, who would use this construction method again in a heart beat. "In other words, we took a building and made it suitable for Blu's Barbeque and did so saving about $30,000 over a conventional build out and tens of thousands more had we added the space using brick and stick versus using a container."
It's about the meat
Bergenholtz, who said he tries to use local meat suppliers whenever possible, has also purchased a 300-acre ranch near Bonham, Texas.
"Our beef is cut to my specifications and the fat cap is trimmed to my specs too," he said. "We take the meat, quality, and health of the food chain seriously, thus my interest in sidestepping some of the large feedlots and to allow our ranch staff to manage as much of our own meat supply as they can handle for our restaurants."
Bergenholtz's interest in organic and non-GMO fed animals led him to establish the working ranch where he raises chicken, pork and cattle as well as exotic game animals.
"I installed a 60-acre game fence allowing my crew hands to raise deer and other animals," he said. "I have strong morals and will focus on the health and welfare of the animals."
It also allows the brand to operate as a farm-to-table model.
"Having our own ranch allows Blu's to control the diet, growth and care of our animals," Bergenholtz said.
About Cherryh Cansler
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