From Humble Beginnings to a Global Pandemic, Bear Creek Smokehouse Has Made This Holiday Season Memorable

Out of East Texas comes a 77-year-owned boutique-style smokehouse that has only grown since its inception from The Great Depression and WWII.

For over 77 years, Bear Creek Smokehouse has specialized in Premium Smoked Meats and has provided their customers with Smoked Beef, Pork & Poultry items. A third-generation owner of the Texas-owned smokehouse, Robbie Shoults has yearned to take the family business to the next level, after 8 decades. It wasn’t until 1943 that the business took a new direction.

Originally named Shoults and Son Poultry and Livestock Farm, the business was started by Shoults’ grandparents, Hick and Nellie Shoults, who grew cotton and corn, raised cattle and hogs, while providing seasonal vegetables to local grocery stores out in East Texas. But what we learned was that the “cotton-patch couple” were also struggling to make ends meet, as they emerged from The Great Depression while also experiencing the side effects of World War II.

“Times were hard and [my grandparents] needed more food on the table, as their family grew on the 1500-acre farm. Hick’s great uncle was an agriculture teacher and suggested to Hick that he consider raising turkeys—he reasoned that you ‘can put more weight gain on a turkey per pound of feed than you could cattle or hogs.’”

And in 1943, Hick took that advice and the Shoults began a new journey raising turkeys—a journey that would last for generations to come and help put holiday meals on tables across America.

Over time, the company rebranded to Bear Creek Smokehouse, named after a small creek that ran near the family’s land. “[It] came from very humble beginnings,” Robbie explained. “Hard work and dedication have been the common denominator between all family members through the decades and has been the key to our success.”

Growing up, Robbie received first-hand knowledge of the business, forming ideas of the direction he would one day take Bear Creek in. While Bear Creek had a significant wholesale business in place, he and his wife, Tracy, continued to forge the growing business, complimenting it with several holiday gift shows around the country. These shows have been met with overwhelming popularity, appearing on The TODAY Show, The Rachael Ray Show, and Beat Bobby Flay.

The family recently released the delectable Bear Bottom Bliss Cookbook. As the business’ popularity grew, it began adding more smoked products to its line. As a Texas native, I was eager to learn more about the smokehouse’s branding and product line.

Luxe Beat Magazine: How has branding played a part in your day-to-day activities? What goes into the commercial branding for your product? 

Robbie Shoults: Quality and consistency are our brand, and it’s our goal every day to make products that are of the highest quality and consistency available. Part of our brand is food, family, and faith. We live our brand out every day because it reflects the family that started this 77 years ago.

LBM: How has that branding changed, if at all, during the COVID-19 outbreak? What has been the key to your successful adaptation to the changes? 

RS: Our branding has not changed. However, we have put more safety measures into place to ensure the highest level of food safety. The store and business itself never really slowed down much during the pandemic. We did adapt to COVID-19 by offering curbside deliveries, home deliveries, take and bakes, etc.

LBM: What is a day in the life of Bear Creek Smokehouse like? What can you tell us about the exciting behind-the-scenes process of your operation? 

RS: No one day is the same! If you don’t like what you’re doing at the moment, just give yourself a few minutes! We all wear a lot of different hats around here and as the need arises, we must skip from one segment of the business to another. We thoroughly enjoy the creative side of this business. Cultivating experiences for customers and families is one of the best parts of our jobs. Although it takes a village, we all pull it together and wrap it with a shiny red bow and help create memories that last a lifetime.

LBM: Does Bear Creek continue to test new recipes and products, or do you tend to stick with the tried-and-true favorites of your customers? Describe the taste!!! 

RS: We consider Bear Creek Smokehouse to be a boutique-style smokehouse where everything is still hand-made, hand-trimmed, hand-cut, hand-rubbed, and not a cookie-cutter operation. This gives us the flexibility to test new products and new recipes as needed.

Our smoked turkeys and hams are the ones that brought us to the dance, and they continue to be our best sellers. It’s a lot of fun developing new recipes for the catering segment of our business. This is where our creative juices really get going as we incorporate our tried-and-true favorites with a twist! Our turkeys have been described as one of the moistest, delicious turkeys people have ever had. With a light pecan brown finish and a light, smoky flavor, it really is the best!

LBM: You just opened a new banquet room at your location in Marshall, TX. What inspired this addition and what can people look forward to with it? 

RS: We opened The General Store and Event Center on November 1^st, 2018.  We practically killed ourselves for a year and a half, rearranging the store and retail products to host events. Due to the overwhelming response to not only our new retail space but our event space, we started considering adding on.

During this past summer, we extended our building by 6,600 square feet. The new Event Center can accommodate up to 300 guests and it is the perfect place for weddings, corporate meetings, Christmas parties, etc. We also added a Pit Room with a 20’ smoker that is the ultimate spot for the weekend! In the future we see ourselves teaching cooking demonstrations, Smoking BBQ 101, tailgates – the list goes on!

LBM: Bear Creek Smokehouse has become a beloved favorite for day trips. Tell us why! 

RS: East Texas is a beautiful place to visit, and Bear Creek has become an East Texas favorite destination. We carry a variety of products, food items, gifts, and serve up lunches! We tend to cater to families as we have been deemed the “Finest Tourist Trap in Texas.” Kids can feed the longhorns, turkeys, goats, and can say they met Wilburt, our famous pig! Recently we’ve extended our entertainment for kids by installing a sluice for kids to mine for gold!

“We have never forgotten where we came from,” Shoults reinforced. “We started with very humble beginnings. We try our best to be as transparent as possible and hope people see us for who we are and love us for who we are! We’re just grateful to be living the great American dream with our family business!”

Bear Creek Smokehouse follows, without compromise, a rigorous food safety program and is staffed by dedicated, trained quality assurance employees, and is USDA inspected daily as well. You can read more about Bear Creek Smokehouse by visiting its website or following it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.