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The barbecue sauce of Sweet Baby Ray was built in the early 1980s by Chicago brothers Dave and Larry Raymond. They named the sauce after a nickname that Dave earned as a basketball player. In 1982, the brothers entered their dressing room at a barbecue competition in Chicago for the first time. In 1985, their fourth year of competition, Sweet Baby Ray won a second place from a field of 700 competitors. The following year, the brothers came together as a business and started selling sauce to consumers.
Raymonds sold the business in 2005. At the time, the brand earned $30 million in revenue and had a 21% total market share. By 2008, the sauce had become the second most sold barbecue sauce in the United States.
Despite selling the sauce business, Dave Raymond retained the rights to the name "Sweet Baby Ray's", and currently operates two restaurants under the name located in Chicago.
