Hockey’s Smokehouse of Waverly is extending its food services from not only serving food from its food truck, but also adding a storefront and a catering business, partnered with Z’s Pizza & Diner.
After conversations about the possibility of this partnership at the end of October, the owners of Hockey’s Smokehouse, Brian and Allison Hockey, along with their supportive daughter Chloe, and Z’s Pizza & Diner owners, Joy and Chris Carney, made things official.
They opened up the storefront on Nov. 6, located at 104 Second St. NW in Waverly, to sell Hockey Smokehouse’s non-meat products and to use for their partnered catering business, Smoke and Dough LLC. They also sell truffles and chocolates made by Sweet Things LC, a business based out of La Porte City, Iowa, at the storefront.
Brian Hockey spoke to Waverly Newspapers about working together with the Carneys.
“Their passion and our passions line up. Our ideologies and our theories all line up,” Hockey explained. “About a month ago, they brought us in, and we didn’t really have any idea. We kind of talked about it and just joked about it, but it never really turned into anything serious. […] Next thing you know, here we are.”
Z’s originally acquired the storefront space but were “not able to utilize it for what they had planned to,” Hockey said, so with their new partnership, Hockey Smokehouse moved in.
“This was definitely not in the plans for our business,” he said. “We really had no vision of opening up a storefront. But luckily, through some friends and through the opening of our new business, Smoke and Dough, we have moved into the office space, along with Z’s.”
Hockey Smokehouse prepares all of their own food, smoking meat, making seasonings and smoking cheeses in the Hockey’s home. Then, the Hockeys bring the non-meat products to the storefront to sell. When they operate the food truck, they cook everything beforehand for fast service.
Hockey said that it’s really nice to have a spot to sell everything, instead of selling the items from their house.
As Hockey’s Smokehouse expands, it will be offering a little bit more variety to their menu, while still staying true to their business principles: simple, clean and fast.
“I believe that with Z’s being locally owned and the support they have and then us being locally owned and the overwhelming support we have, the two businesses together, it’s going to be a really nice marriage,” he said. “I’m pretty excited for the future.”
Hockey’s Smokehouse’s general food menu, seasonings and more can be found on its website: hockeys-smokehouse-llc.square.site, where requests for catering can also be made. More information and updates about Hockey Smokehouse and Smoke and Dough LLC are on their Facebook pages.
Hockey started the business three years ago, wanting to make a little extra money to get a turbo for his sports car, he said.
After brainstorming with a friend, he decided to open up a seasoning business. He bought a variety of individual ingredients and hand blended them.
The first time he started selling his seasoning was at a local farmer’s market, with little jars costing $5. He came out of the farmer’s market selling $200.
“I went home and I was like, ‘You got to be kidding me, what just happened?’” he said. “I expected to make like 30 or 40 bucks, and we just kept going. We kept going every week, and we kept building.”
In total, Hockey’s Smokehouse offers 13 seasonings, six varieties of smoked cheeses (mozzarella, mild cheddar, sharp cheddar, Gouda, Swiss and Colby), a variety of barbecue sauces, their own jelly and a smoker used for cocktails.
After the business started its climb, Hockey eventually sold his sports car that inspired the business and bought a truck and trailer for the smokehouse.
Hockey added, “Fun money turned into serious money.”
Two years ago, the local business served food at Oktoberfest, selling 1,000 brats. They came back last year, additionally offering mac and cheese and pretzels with the brats, and almost double their sales.
Hockey’s Smokehouse has worked with many local businesses and at events in the area, including serving lunch to local schools, rotating every Thursday, and serving food at the Beach House every Wednesday night.
When talking about the support that they get from the community and local businesses, he said that “it has been absolutely amazing.”
“I cannot thank the community for all the support,” Hockey expressed. “We’ve had support from Tyson Beach, Farmers State Bank, Waverly Tire, Dale Howard, Waverly Preschool, Miller True Value, just local businesses. It’s local-supporting-local, which is absolutely amazing.”