Zatarain's facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Processed & Packaged goods |
| Founded | New Orleans (1889) |
| Headquarters | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Products | Spices, herbs, flavorings, rice |
| Owner | McCormick & Company |
Zatarain's is a famous American food and spice company. It started in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States. Zatarain's makes many products like seasonings, spices, and boxed or frozen foods. These foods are a big part of the cooking traditions in Louisiana, especially Cajun and Creole styles.
The company began in New Orleans in 1886. It later moved to a nearby town called Gretna in 1963 when the family sold the business.
Zatarain's was founded by Emile A. Zatarain Sr. He first opened a grocery store. In 1889, he created a special recipe for root beer. This root beer became very popular in the area. He called it Papoose Root Beer and even got a trademark for it. He then started a new company called Papoose Pure Food Products and built a factory.
Over time, Emile Zatarain added more products. These included mustard, pickled vegetables, and different flavor extracts. Soon, the company became well-known for its New Orleans and Cajun-style spices and food mixes.
The Zatarain family sold the business in 1963. Since then, it has been owned by several different companies. Today, the brand is owned by McCormick & Company, which is the largest spice company in the world.
What Zatarain's Makes
Zatarain's creates many food items inspired by Cajun and Creole cooking. These products fall into five main groups:
- Crab and Shrimp Boils: These are special spice mixes used to cook boiled seafood. They are also used for fun social events called seafood boils. The spices come in a small bag, like a mesh bag. Inside, you'll find spices such as mustard seed, coriander seeds, allspice, bay leaf, and black pepper. Zatarain's also has a liquid version of their crab boil. You can use it to add flavor to soups.
- Creole Mustard: This is a common type of mustard in New Orleans. It's a stone-ground brown mustard. People often call it "hot mustard" to show it's different from regular yellow mustard.
- Fish-Fri: This is a seasoned cornmeal mix. It's used to coat fish before frying, making it crispy and flavorful.
- Ready-to-Serve Dinners: These are quick and easy meals. They include dishes like gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice, and black beans and rice. These dinners already have cooked beans, rice, and seasonings. You can add meat if you want. They come in two forms: frozen meals you heat in a microwave oven, or packages where you add water and cook on a stovetop or in a microwave.
- Seasonings: Zatarain's offers many different spices and blends. These include cayenne pepper and root-beer extract. They also make mixes similar to those made popular by famous chefs like Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse. The company still makes root beer extract for people to prepare at home.
Company History
Zatarain's was started by Emile A. Zatarain, Sr.. He was a businessman from a Basque family. He had five sons, and all of them joined his business after finishing school.
In 1886, Emile Zatarain opened his grocery store. He was one of the first in Louisiana to use a National Cash Register. A few months later, he bought a horse and buggy to deliver groceries. The company's first big success was root beer. His great-great-granddaughter, Allison Zatarain, shared that "Emile introduced Papoose Root Beer at 2:30 p.m. on May 7, 1889, at the Louisiana (Purchase) Exposition. The root beer was so successful, that his business grew, and grew, and grew!"
Later, Zatarain found it was cheaper to sell the root beer as an extract. This extract could be mixed with carbonated water. He created a company called Papoose Pure Food Products to make the root beer and other foods. He built a factory in New Orleans. He started to import and package olives, pickles, and spices.
When the root beer and spice business became more successful than the grocery store, Zatarain focused on manufacturing. His root beer extract was sold in large barrels to restaurants and markets.
Soon, Papoose Pure Food Products expanded to include seasonings with Creole and Cajun flavors. They also started making Creole Mustard and pickled products.
On May 29, 1922, Emile A. Zatarain, Sr. changed the business name to E.A. Zatarain & Sons, Inc. His sons were taking over more of the daily work. Emile A. Zatarain, Jr. and his wife, Ida May Bennett Zatarain, eventually ran the company. Ida May created many recipes for their products, like Remoulade Sauce.
In 1963, the Zatarain family sold the business to James Grinstead Viavant. He had previously owned the Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans. When Viavant took over, Zatarain's was using old packaging methods. He updated the company and made it more modern.
Viavant combined Zatarain's Papoose Products Co., Inc. with another company he bought, Pelican State Lab. Pelican State Lab owned a popular fish frying mix called Fish-Fri. This product was added to the Zatarain's brand and became a best-seller. Viavant focused on the most profitable products. He moved the company to a new, modern plant in Gretna, Louisiana. By the early 1970s, Zatarain's was a well-known brand in the region.
In May 1984, Viavant sold the business to Centra Soya Co. for $24 million. Zatarain's sales were about $10 million a year at that time. Centra Soya Co. increased sales to $14 million. Then, 18 months later, they sold Zatarain's to Wyndham Foods, Inc. Wyndham kept the retail business and expanded the brand into food for restaurants and institutions. They launched the boxed food products that Zatarain's still makes today. They used the word "Cajun" on the boxes to take advantage of the cooking trend made popular by New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme in the 1980s. When that trend faded, the company started calling its products "Louisiana-style" or "New Orleans-style."
The company was sold again in 1987 to Martha White Foods. Zatarain's had several more owners in the late 1980s.
By the 1990s, Zatarain's sold over 200 products locally and regionally. In 1999, they started their first national television advertising campaign.
In 1993, Citigroup Venture Capital and some Zatarain's employees bought the company. They expanded the product line to include frozen foods. On May 9, 1993, McCormick & Company bought Zatarain's for $180 million. This happened after Zatarain's sales had grown by 15% each year for the previous five years.
In 2017, the New Orleans Pelicans basketball team announced Zatarain's as a sponsor for their jersey patches.
See also
