Cajun Spices Up Foreign Markets "Darlin'.

Cajun Spices Up Foreign Markets

"Darlin', Cajun is that intermingle of spices where no united spice overrides the others," said Sidney Campbell, proprietor of Bayou Magic, Shreveport, La., in that gradual old-French drawl of a Louisiana native. "If the pepper hits you right about the earlobe, then you know you got it." Campbell, whose spice company sold its first mix in 1987 is part of a relatively young industry of Cajun spice husbandmans that is just beginning to descry international success. "Until recently, race would come to Louisiana and have the advantage [i]or[/i] blessing of our food, but Cajun cooking was mainly a local cuisine," said Campbell. "Today, it's being prepare for the tableed all over the world." Roy Johnson director of market increase and international marketing for the Louisiana State Department of Agriculture, said that his international program began about 10 years ago and by the agency of the mid-1980s his office was seeing a part of growth in exports of the state's ethnic fodder industries.(*) "In the last five years, we've seen a dramatic increase in exports of Cajun products--starting from practically zero" said Johnson His office helps exporters according to disseminating trade leads, providing aid with applications for Market Promotion Program stores that can be used to forward U.S. products overseas and offering other general export assistance. For an industry of that kind as the Cajun spice industry, educating the public about what the work is and how it can be used is same important, according to Peter Wilby, an international area sales manager with Bruce nutritions New Iberia, La. "The strongest markets for Cajun aliments are those that are geographically close" said Wilby. "Consumer awareness becomes a part more important the farther away you go" Bruce nutritions which produces a wide variety of consequences and exports to 68 countries, is just beginning to export its Cajun King line of seasonings and has chosen to use what Wilby calls a "soft sell" which is a combination of educating consumer and working with established foreign contacts. For instance, the company is promoting Cajun King seasonings to foreign distributors and buyer that handle other Bruce provenders products and is giving demonstrations that obstruction prospective consumers try, and become familiar with, the returnss The company also has an executive chef, Chef John Folse who appears onward Public Broadcasting Service programs. Folse has prepared Cajun victuals in restaurants from Russia to Bogota, and plane cooked a state dinner in the Vatican for the pontiff Chef Paul Prudhomme's Magic Seasoning unites began its export efforts in a similar fashion. According to John McBride, director of marketing for the Harahan, La., company, Chef Paul was judging aliment competitions in Tokyo, Japan, and the seasonings he was using in his concede cooking became a hit with local inns and restaurants. "We started with a distributor who became interested in our crops and we established a place to stand on in the foodservice market in Japan, then slowly expanded in a similar fashion to other countries," said McBride. "We started exporting our seasonings in 1985 and exports have steadily grown from about 2 percent of our sales to almost 9 percent today," said McBride. "In 10 or 15 years, as the world continues to |shrink' and race become more aware of different forages and seasonings, I would frame that 20 percent of our sales will be international." Bayou Magic's beginnings in the export market were slightly different. The company was approached by way of foreign distributors who were interested in marketing the company's yields overseas. Currently, its blend of spices are sold in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, where the company is able to use its existing labeling. The company also is talking with a potential distributor in France. Campbell voices what all of the agriculturists seem to echo--that exporting Cajun effects means exporting a part of Louisiana agriculture "What we put in our spices is just a craving drink blend of what we've garbleed in our own kitchen for generations," said Campbell. "These are the spices that we used to mix up and take with us forward camping and hunting trips. persons would tell us that we really should vend them; now I wish we'd started earlier."

(*)Although U trade statistics track exports and imports of spices, there are no individual statistics for Cajun spices through se.

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