Officially Licensed Sauce to Launch by October 29 at Statewide Retail Locations
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Carolina Athletics and its multimedia rightsholder, LEARFIELD’s Tar Heel Sports Properties, introduce Cackalacky® as a multi-year corporate partner supporting the Heels.
This collaboration marks the first college sports sponsorship for the popular North Carolina brand that has evolved over 20 years from a sauce company to a full lifestyle brand behind locally sourced craft products. Cackalacky® works with a select group of small, independent, and local contractors, farmers, producers, printers, brewers, roasters, bottlers, and suppliers from all over North Carolina. The sponsorship with UNC provides Cackalacky® visibility through benefits such as in-venue signage, radio broadcasts and activations during football, baseball and men’s basketball seasons.
Cackalacky® Co-Founder and CEO, Caroline Skelton, is an alumna of UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business MBA program. “Our roots run deep with the Tar Heel community,” Skelton said. “My husband, Page, and I created the Famously Original® Cackalacky® Brand in Chapel Hill more than two decades ago while I was attending Carolina. It’s an absolute thrill for us to partner with Carolina Athletics and Tar Heel Sports Properties and to bring the fun and uniqueness of Cackalacky® to Carolina fans near and far.”
In addition to the company’ sponsorship, Carolina fans soon will enjoy a sauce of their very own as Cackalacky® launches the first and only “Carolina Tar Heels® BBQ Sauce,” an officially licensed collegiate product through CLC, the University’s exclusive licensing company and a division of LEARFIELD.
The new Carolina Tar Heels® BBQ Sauce will be available for purchase at all Food Lion locations in North Carolina and other grocery and specialty retailers throughout the state. It will also be provided at all Carolina Athletic concession stands for fans to add to the new Cackalacky® BBQ Pork Sandwich and other popular concession stand offerings.
“We are excited to partner with a company that was born in Chapel Hill and has its tasty roots in the state of North Carolina. The new Carolina Tar Heels BBQ Sauce offers our fans the unique opportunity to show their support of Carolina Athletics at tailgates, at concessions stands and at home,” said Robbi Pickeral Evans, Sr. Associate AD for External Affairs and Strategic Communications for Carolina Athletics.
Headquartered in Pittsboro, NC, Cackalacky® is the family-owned southern lifestyle brand that specializes in locally inspired sauces, seasonings, snack nuts, gourmet coffees, apparel, and more. Cackalacky is also a long-time member of Got To Be NC – the North Carolina Department of Agriculture’s initiative that promotes North Carolina agricultural products and goods. To learn more about Cackalacky® go to Cackalacky.com.
This new relationship was secured on behalf of the university by Tar Heel Sports Properties, LEARFIELD’s locally based team representing Carolina Athletics. LEARFIELD is a media, data and technology services company in intercollegiate athletics. The company unlocks the value of sports for brands and fans through an omnichannel platform with innovative content and commerce solutions.