Behind the Brand: Episode 003 - The "King" of Charcoal Briquets

History of the Brand

In this episode, Jason Hewitt shares the origin of the leading brand of charcoal briquets, Kingsford Charcoal.

From inauspicious beginnings in a forest along Michigan's upper peninsula, this is the story of how E.G. Kingsford advised his wife's prominent cousin to market a line of charcoal fuel, eliminating factory waste and creating a new revenue stream for his growing brands.

Nearly thirty years later, the chemical division would be sold and the charcoal brand renamed for the town it had created, after the man who originally shared the idea that would eventually spark the barbecue craze across America.