Grilling & Giving Back

The Big Taste Grill is heading to Texas today, bringing along thousands of brats, helping hands and smiles as it prepares to bring a warm meal to communities devastated by Hurricane Harvey.

Johnsonville has been collaborating with its retail partners – HEB, Randalls, Walmart and Kroger – to bring the Big Taste Grill to their locations in the affected communities. So far, there are 15 dates and locations confirmed where Johnsonville will bring the Big Taste Grill to over the next three weeks.

The 65-foot Big Taste Grill stocked up with nearly 5,000 brats to support the first couple of days, and is preparing to ship several thousand more to support additional community stops. We’ll be ready to grill up to 750 brats at one time or 2,500 brats per hour if needed. The brats are donated by Johnsonville, and the retailers are also donating food and drink items. All will be provided at no charge to hurricane victims, and disaster-relief workers and volunteers, as they rebuild and restore their lives and communities. Also showing its support was Wisconsin-based Eldorado Trailer Sales, which waived the leasing fee for the pickup truck Johnsonville rented to bring its serving trailer to Texas.

Johnsonville is sending its second Big Taste Grill semi, which was deployed to support this effort. The main Big Taste Grill is currently on tour out West, committed to serving at events and festivals through the end of October.

“We are pleased to lend a helping hand from Wisconsin, and work with our local retailers in Texas to make this happen in their communities,” said Ron Schroder, senior brand manager at Johnsonville. “We want our Texas friends and those helping with the disaster-relief efforts know there are many positive thoughts and actions behind them.”

The schedule is as follows: