BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
Tony Chachere acquired a reputation as a polished salesman who could effectively entertain socially and expertly prepare varieties of Cajun or Creole cooking.
Those Chachere-inspired ingredients for his recipe and seasoning empire launched decades ago are expanding with a national and international marketing strategy that is delivered from Opelousas.
Company executives Greg Dupre and Justin Ardoin explained the beginning for the Tony Chachere retail marketing legacy and its current production status this week to the Opelousas Noon Rotary Club.
Dupre, the controller for Tony Chachere’s Famous Creole Foods and Ardoin, the warehouse logistics manager, explained how Chachere, who died in 1995 at 89, was an energetic self-promoter, who originally ran two successful businesses spanning 40 years before deciding to retire and sell his food preparation and seasonings commercially.
“It was (Chachere’s) lifelong dream to make the seasonings he had created and then sell them. He had a vision. (Chachere) originally placed some of his seasoning in a little jar and out of that jar, he began to develop what was his passion, which was using his seasoning for recipes and cooking,” said Dupre.
Currently Tony Chachere’s has hired 200 full time workers. Dupre added the company has also instituted a locally-inspired program where selected high school graduates have opportunities to join the company.
“We want to remain involved in the community and create future employees that exhibit a work ethic that will also keep them out of trouble,” Dupre said.
The 52-year-old company, which ships products throughout North America, is also interested in maintaining a tradition that includes preserving Tony Chachere’s original cookbook, Dupre said.
However Dupre added that company officials are continuing to promote items through social media campaigns and continually create what he said are “top secret items” that are being developed for introduction by next year.
Rotary member Philip Andrepont recalled that throughout his career, Chachere was acknowledged as someone that could effectively promote a product.
Andrepont remembered Chachere as a “super salesman” who succeeded with his drug company and insurance business before developing his new business featuring authentic seasonings that catered to food preparation described in his cookbooks.
“(Chachere) knew how to sell. I know we printed 5,000 copies of his cookbooks at a time. Tony would take those, get into his car and then drive off and sell them. When he ran out, he would come back and have us print another 5,000,” Andrepont told the Rotarians.
Retail analysis published in national trade magazines indicate that Tony Chachere’s is a company which has continued to grow faster annually than the national average along with the number of persons who are employed with the company.
Tony Chachere’s is averaging $21 million in annual revenue, according to multiple sources
