Restaurateurs, food entrepreneurs seek shelf space

Take a walk through any grocery store these days and you may notice that the shelves are lined with products created by a restaurant chef or food entrepreneur. Particularly in the salad dressing and seasoning aisles, familiar faces like Zea Rotisserie & Grill, Slap Ya Mama, Ms. Sally’s Praline Sauce and others are becoming more commonplace.

Sal & Judy’s Restaurant in Lacombe has been turning out their salad dressings for nearly 15 years.

“I started with tomato sauce, then dressings and moved on to BBQ sauce,” said owner Sal Impastato. “Our products are available in the Gulf Coast Region through Rouses Supermarkets and Wal-Mart primarily. Demand has increased so much we bought a new and bigger location to ramp up production.”

How does one go about taking their recipe, producing, packaging and distributing it? A Louisiana Restaurant Association member—EdibleEnterprises—is designed to do just that. If you are an aspiring food entrepreneur looking to make your homemade specialty for the masses, this Norco-based facility can meet your needs.

“Currently we have 23 tenants and operate seven days a week,” said Gaye Morrison Sandoz, Marketing Director of Edible Enterprises. “We are the only incubator in the state and every month we bring on more tenants.”