A blend of Tony Chachere's spices are a staple at the table, in many Louisiana households.
In honor of the company's 50th anniversary, several members of the family business united to host a grand opening in Opelousas — Tony's Country Store, on Tuesday afternoon.
The ribbon-cutting event featured free samples of gumbo, photo ops with members of the Chachere family and an opportunity for visitors to purchase some of Tony's most popular items — seasonings, marinades, gifts and stocking-stuffers.
One of Opelousas' very own, former Wide Receiver for the New Orleans Saints, Devery Henderson, came to the grand opening. Henderson said he uses Tony's seasonings, faithfully.
"It’s been a great product and something I’ve been using since a kid," Henderson said. "It feels great, it’s Opelousas, we both represent the same town and state, and it feels pretty good."
Celeste Chachere is Tony's great granddaughter and works as the Director of Marketing and Public Relations for the company.
Celeste said she remembers her grandfather starting from humble beginnings with a small, regional business.
Today, Tony Chachere's Famous Creole Seasoning mix is used and sold, nationally.
"We actually built this country store and to our experience, had it ready to go right before the world shut down with Covid," Celeste said. "We’ve been waiting for the moment, for the time to feel right and we just thought, this is our 50th anniversary year, so what better capstone to just seal off the year than to give this gift back to the public, that’s given us so much."
Celeste said Tony's Country Store is a combination of a gift shop and a tourism experience.
"When you walk through the front door, we do have what looks like an old, mercantile, general store filled with all of the products that we make of course, but also a lot of custom Tony's merchandise, cooking items, cookware, gifting," etc.
Celeste said the new store features clothing items for kids and a movie theatre, where tourists and locals can get a chance to learn about the history of the business and Louisiana's culture.
"There's a viewing platform that's about 50-feet long, that connects into our production facility and looks out over all of our production so you can see our rice dinner mixes, our seasoning blends, our fish frys, roux and gravies, all of that being made live, every day," Celeste said.
Donald "Buzzy" Chachere, is the President and CEO of the family's franchise. Donald said he has been working for his grandfather's company for forty years.
"It’s been challenging at times, but very fun and exciting," Donald said. "Being a part of the food industry, people get excited about food, and they enjoy it."
Donald said Louisiana natives are known to brag about their cooking and Creole cuisine is a driving force for Louisiana's culture.
"We're a unique flavor," Donald said. "We were the first one to come as an ambassador to the state of Louisiana. So, there's been a lot of people that come with similar products to imitate them and that's part of business, but ours gives it a unique flavor that you can say is good on everything, and we have something for everybody."
