Manda Fine Meats co-owner and CEO Bobby Yarborough will be honored by the Baton Rouge Epicurean Society with its 2015 Grace ‘Mama’ Marino Lifetime Achievement Award at the society’s annual awards dinner this summer.
The society announced Yarborough as recipient of the award this morning. A native of Baton Rouge, Yarborough attended Istrouma High School before and graduated from Southeastern
Louisiana University with a bachelor’s in marketing in 1976. It was shortly after his graduation that he founded Manda. According to Business Report’s 2015 listing of the area’s top 100 private companies, Manda had revenue of $42.2 million in 2013, up 1.1% from the previous year, placing it No. 85 on the list.
Aside from honoring his business acumen, the society says the award recognizes Yarborough’s philanthropic efforts and work with local non-profit organizations through the years. Yarborough has served as a board member for the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, Family Road of Greater Baton Rouge, Metro Area YMCA, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Baton Rouge and the Baton Rouge General Hospital Foundation. He is also the immediate past chairman of the LSU Board of Supervisors and chairman of the University Medical Center Management Corp. He’s previously served as president of Louisiana Grocers Manufacturers Representative Association and as a board member of the Louisiana Meat Processors Association.
Yarborough and his wife, Marsha, reside in Baton Rouge with their two children, Josh and Melissa. The Epicurean Society’s awards dinner will be held at L’Auberge Casino & Hotel on Aug. 27. Tickets are $200 per person or $1,600 for a table of eight and are available for purchase online.
