Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday, some local caterers say their business is booming and has not been slowed down by the August flood.
“We’re not seeing any downturn by any means at all,” says Chef Don Bergeron of Bergeron’s City Market, which relocated from Mid City to Jefferson Highway and reopened at its current location earlier this year. “We’ve grown every year in our business, and we’re doing more volume this year. It will be a good glimpse of what we’ll do in future years.”
Bergeron says his business is up 20% so far, but he declined to disclose actual sales figures.
Economist Loren Scott says the uptick in the catering sector may come from flood victims who want holiday meals but have not rebuilt their homes and look instead to catering services.
Bergeron echoed Scott’s sentiments, noting that flooding destroyed many kitchens in the region.
Galen Iverstine says his retail butcher shop, Iverstine Farms Butcher, which opened a month ago, is nearly sold out of turkeys and hams and experienced solid holiday sales so far.
The store opened in October and may have had a “honeymoon” period that offset any downturn from the flood, he says.
“We had a lot of families affected by the floods, and I know they’re not worried about spending a lot of money right now,” he says. “It’s all going to rebuilding houses.”
Ryan Diez, general manager of Unique Cuisine at the LSU Lod Cook Alumni Center, says business is going strong as he enters holiday season, and December is booking quickly, despite rescheduling some events because of the flood.
“Our business is definitely not down,” he says, adding that sales are already up 15%.
Diez also decline to provide actual sales figures.
—Sam Karlin
