Louisiana Fish Fry has rolled out four new products in recent weeks, as it continues its expansion both locally and nationwide. The Plank Road company, which manufactures and sells Cajun and Creole cooking products, has seen sales increase about 13% since last year. Business is so brisk, says owner Bill Pizzolato, that the company is looking to expand its distribution facility, either on site or at another nearby location.
“We hope to build something in the next year or so or find a new building to build for a distribution center because we’re running out of room here,” says Pizzolato, whose family also owns Tony’s Seafood, which is adjacent to the Louisiana Fish Fry facility. “We process between 26 million and 28 million pounds of product a year in that plant, so we need more space. If we keep seeing these increases we’re going to get really congested.”
Pizzolato says the Louisiana Fish Fry facility is relatively landlocked and doesn’t have any space to expand behind the existing building. However, the company owns two acres on Plank Road across Kelvin Street, where it is considering building its additional facility.
Pizzolato says the growth across both Louisiana Fish Fry and Tony’s Seafood, which had revenues of more than $54 million last year, is phenomenal—not that he’s complaining. Louisiana Fish Fry, which accounts for about 70% of total company sales, is now distributed in all 50 states and six foreign countries.
In January, the company rolled out four new boxed mixes—jambalaya, gumbo and rice, dirty rice, and red beans and rice. The company still manufactures spice mixes sold in plastic bags, but the new products include rice, responding to consumer demand for simple, easy-to-prepare meals.
“This will give us more shelf space in the supermarkets,” says Pizzolato, whose father started Tony’s Seafood in the early 1970s. Louisiana Fish Fry Products was founded in 1982, as the Cajun cooking craze was beginning to take off around the country. More than 30 years later, the fad shows no signs of fading.
“A lot of companies from elsewhere around the country put Cajun products out on the market, and they didn’t know what they were doing,” he says. “They didn’t understand that Cajun food isn’t just hot. It’s spicy.”
—Stephanie Riegel
