Moving Forward

It doesn’t matter what’s in the black iron pot in south Louisiana, everyone knows that it’s not complete without the proper seasoning—and the legions of visitors who come to experience the cooking that’s made south Louisiana famous are catching on to that, too.

Special blends of herbs and spices have been the secret to Cajun and Creole fare from early times. Every family had its own recipe—and many of them are finding their way onto grocery shelves in packages convenient to local cooks and to visitors who want to take some of that special stuff home with them.

More times than not, the seasoning mixes are nestled alongside packages of sausage and boudin, or pre-packaged ingredients for everything from red beans and rice to jambalaya.

Seasonings prepared by the Tony Chachere company, Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Seasoning facility, Targil and others can now be 

found across the nation, and represent not only an industry that has long been associated with St. Landry Parish, but one that has not yet seen its full potential.

Food and beverage processing was one of those identified in a recent study by Garner Economics of St. Landry industries with significant growth potential, and there are good reasons for that projection.

To begin with, we can grow in St. Landry practically everything we need to fill a table with luscious dishes. Our farmers and stockmen are among the most productive in Louisiana. Next, we have a long history of cooking up unique dishes created from the products we raise and from the natural harvest from our woodlands and waterways.

Third, we have experience and know-how developed over the years as we produce and package our spices and sauces, crawfish and canned goods, and even our cookbooks for distribution across the nation.

Those economic ingredients give us a leg up as we investigate other ways to harvest and market what we grow and what we love to eat. The Garner study, for example, identified particular opportunities in processing soybeans and rice, two of our largest crops; animal slaughtering and processing; bottling prepared sauces; breweries and distilleries; aquaculture production and processing; production of prepared and frozen foods; and ancillary activities such as cold storage facilities, creation and manufacture of production machinery, and manufacture and distribution of agricultural products to keep our crops growing.

These, according to the study, offer the opportunity “to sustain and add value to a strong existing base of agribusiness.”

That potential was recognized even before the Garner study, according to Bill Rodier, St. Landry economic development CEO.

“In fact, the St. Landry Parish development plan adopted several years ago noted that agriculture and aquaculture are significant parts of our economy, and that the parish has a strong base of food processing businesses that formed here because of our cultural heritage and passion for food.

“Products from St. Landry Parish can be found around the world,” he said. “And we see nothing but growth in our food processing industry as the world learns more about the good life and the good food to be found here.”