Bar-B-Q Flavored Pork Skins

The Beginning

The brand started with Roy Dixon Sr. in Mississippi in 1974. Dixon began selling pork skins and discovered they were more popular than the records he was selling in his shop. He expanded the business from a small operation into a statewide snack brand. His family says he was among the first African-American entrepreneurs to have a manufactured food product widely distributed in Mississippi stores.

Becoming Central Snacks

In 1991, Dixon’s Pork Skins was acquired by Central Snacks, a company based in Carthage, Mississippi. The brand was known for years as “Dixon’s/Central Snacks” before eventually becoming simply Central Snacks Inc. The company kept the Dixon name on many products because of its strong reputation throughout Mississippi and the Southeast.

The Bar-B-Q Flavor

The Bar-B-Q flavored pork skins became one of the company’s signature products. Central Snacks says it developed its own proprietary BBQ seasoning blend that helped distinguish its products from competitors. The company offers several flavors, but BBQ remains one of the most recognized.

Why They’re Popular

People who grew up in Mississippi often remember finding Dixon’s pork skins:

• In convenience stores
• At gas stations
• In vending machines
• On military bases throughout the South

Central Snacks still distributes throughout much of the Southeast and ships products to multiple states.