Hanley’s Salad Dressing didn’t land a game-changing contract with hospitality mogul Tillman Fertitta, star of CNBC’s show Billion Dollar Buyer, to put the company’s salad dressing in his restaurants or casino properties.
But Richard Hanley says the experience of appearing on the reality TV show, which aired Wednesday night, and working with Fertitta was in itself something of a game changer.
“We got amazing exposure, amazing feedback and we’re working with (Fertitta’s chefs) now on how to improve our ranch dressing,” he says. “The name recognition and the exposure have been a boost across the board.”
In each episode of Billion Dollar Buyer, Fertitta, who owns some 600 restaurant, hotel and entertainment properties, chooses between two small startups, awarding one the opportunity to provide its goods or services to one of his companies, which includes Landry’s Seafood and Rainforest Cafe.
Hanley’s went up against a team of California-based organic poultry farmers, who were able to produce a chicken that was markedly better than the one Fertitta’s California restaurant is serving. Hanley’s, on the other hand, wasn’t able to convince chefs at Landry’s that its salad dressing—even its signature product, the locally beloved Sensation Salad Dressing—was significantly better than Landry’s house dressings.
Still, Richard Hanley, who founded the business with his wife Kate in 2012 and produces the dressings by hand at the LSU Ag Center Food Incubator, says the couple learned a lot from the experience and is encouraged that Landry’s chefs are giving them feedback.
Hanley’s has also begun working with local chef Ryan Andre on how they can improve some of their lines, which was one of Tillman’s recommendations.
Hanley says he remains hopeful that after making some tweaks to his dressings and then scales up production the firm will land a contract with Landry’s.
“They buy $5 million in salad dressing a year,” he says. “So we’re really working to get just one of our products in there.”
