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How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire
Collins
October 2007
On Sale: October 2, 2007
272 pages
ISBN: 0060721847
EAN: 9780060721848
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
The story of the powerful McIlhennys of Louisiana, who
turned hot peppers into a Tabasco fortune After the Civil War ended, Edmund McIlhenny, an ambitious
and tenacious Louisiana businessman, found himself with few
prospects. The South's economy in ruins and his millions of
dollars in Confederacy currency worthless, he had no choice
but to return with his wife, Mary, to her family home in
Avery Island, a former sugar plantation destroyed by Union
soldiers. To McIlhenny's surprise, the hot peppers he had planted
before being forced off the island had flourished. Desperate
to start a new business, he chopped up the peppers, combined
them with salt and vinegar, and produced the first batch of
hot pepper sauce. Or so the story goes. He called the sauce
Tabasco. In this fascinating history, Jeffrey Rothfeder tells how,
from a simple idea—the outgrowth of a handful of peppers
planted on an isolated island on the Gulf of Mexico—a
secretive family business emerged that would produce one of
the best-known products in the world. In short order,
McIlhenny's descendants would turn Tabasco into a gold mine
and an icon of pop culture, making it as recognizable as far
bigger brands such as Coca-Cola and Kleenex. To this day, the McIlhenny Co., still run by a family of
matchless characters who believe in a rigid code of family
loyalty, clings to tradition and the old ways of doing
business. Yet by fiercely protecting its beloved brand and
refusing to sell out to big food conglomerates, this family
business has run circles around its competitors, churning
out annual revenues that have surpassed everyone's expectations. A delectable and satisfying read for both Tabasco fans and
business buffs, McIlhenny's Gold is the untold story of the
continuing success of an eccentric, private company; a
lively history of one of the most popular consumer products
of all times; and an exploration of our desire to test the
limits of human tolerance for fiery foods.
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