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Maryville-based Code3 Spices’ barbeque spice blends are now on shelves in every Dierbergs grocery store in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

The business startup, which launched in late 2012, inked the deal in early March. The upscale grocer has 24 stores across the bi-state area plus one store at Lake of the Ozarks, Mo.

According to founders and co-owners Chris Bohnemeier and Mike Radosevich, Code 3 Spices shipped its first product to the Dierbergs warehouse in late March and the stores began carrying it days later.

Code 3’s five blends – Sea Dog Rub, Grunt Rub, Rescue Rub, 5-0 Rub and Backdraft Rub – have already been in the seasoning aisles of more than 120 grocery stores, butcher shops and specialty outlets. However, this arrangement marks the company’s most extensive distribution channel to date.

“We’re grateful to be aligned with so many people who support our business strategy,” said Radosevich. “Dierbergs has already been terrific. It’s exciting to see our product distribution network expand, because it affords us the opportunity of supporting our chosen charities even more.”

A portion of the proceeds from every Code 3 Spices bottle sold goes directly to a select number of charities. St. Louis-based nonprofit The Backstoppers, Inc. is one of those charities. For decades, the organization has stepped up to support families, who have lost loved ones serving in a first responder capacity, and to help ease a variety of financial burdens faced in the wake of that loss.

Dierbergs operates two locations in Illinois (Edwardsville and O’Fallon) and 23 stores in Missouri. Bohnemeier and Radosevich said their small business’ model of giving back resonated with a grocery chain whose own business model prioritizes giving back generously to the communities in which it operates.

“The outreach element in our business strategy was truly something Dierbergs can relate to,” Bohnemeier said. “Community involvement has been a priority since the Dierberg family took ownership of the company in 1914.”

The Metro East Small Business Development Center, headed by Director Patrick McKeehan, has actively supported Code 3 Spices since before the company officially began operations more than 16 months ago. Bohnemeier and Radosevich credit McKeehan for equipping them with essential expertise for marketing and distributing their proprietary spice blends.

“Patrick underscored the concept that succeeding in our own back yard in Southwestern Illinois and St. Louis, was vital to our success on a national scale,” said Radosevich. “On behalf of the SBDC, he has been there to support us every step of the way.”

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