Iconic Cajun Company Celebrates 60 Years
Opelousas, La. (PRWEB) February 09, 2015 -- It all started with a country store and hogs. In 1955, Ms. Eula Savoie of Opelousas found herself with a problem: what to do with all the hogs she was raising but couldn’t sell. She had added the 187-acre farming operation a few years back to supplement the income from the small grocery store she owned with her husband. Thanks to a suggestion from her mother, Ms. Eula decided to butcher the hogs and turn them into Cajun dishes to sell in the store. Those dishes, based on her mother’s recipes, became the centerpiece of a multimillion-dollar Cajun food empire currently celebrating 60 years in business.
At the heart of the company’s unique story is Ms. Eula, who passed away in 2010. Under her leadership, Savoie’s Sausage and Food Products grew steadily and added new product lines, including Cajun pantry staples like jarred roux and rice dressing mix. She was a pioneer in the food industry, investing in new technologies and facilities, while still making time to treat her employees like family. That balance–between innovation and preserving heritage–has been key to the success of Savoie’s® Foods.
“No matter how large we might grow, we’ll always be a family company,” said Freddie Lafleur, president and COO of Savoie’s Sausage and Food Products, Inc. “We have 110 employees, and we’re owned and operated right here in Louisiana, with locations in Opelousas, Church Point and New Iberia,” he said.
In 1990, when Louisiana created the term “Certified Cajun,” the company was one of the first businesses to apply for and receive the state’s “Certified Cajun” designation. Today, the company is USDA inspected and GFSI/SQF certified.
Savoie’s® creates authentic Cajun products using family recipes handed down for generations. From the popular roux used in gumbos and gravies to smoked sausage, boudin and tasso, Savoie’s® products are currently available in groceries stores across the Gulf South and restaurants across the country. The company is working to expand distribution to grocery stores in additional southeast states including Florida and Georgia.
In recent years, ready-prepared frozen meals, including single- and multi-serve dishes were added to the company’s ever-expanding lineup of Cajun dishes, along with frozen appetizers and seafood pies. “Our products make it easy for families to enjoy delicious, home-cooked Cajun cuisine without spending all day in the kitchen,” said Lafleur. “At Savoie’s® Foods, family is at the heart of everything we do.”
The Group of Savoie’s Companies is a privately held, Louisiana-based group of enterprises involved in the development, packing, marketing and distribution of value-added niche food products originating in heritage Louisiana recipes. The Group is a Federal/USDA-inspected and GFSI/SQF-certified, independently owned manufacturer that offers to retail and foodservice distribution a diversified program of heritage food products all produced in Southern Louisiana. More information is available at http://www.savoiesfoods.com.
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Julie Gauthier, BBR Creative, +1 3372331515, [email protected]
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