McIlhenny's Gold: How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire

[wknecht]

[amazonsearch]McIlhenny's Gold: How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire[/amazonsearch]

 

Pretty interesting book - chronicles the history of the McIlhenny Company (makers of Tabasco).  The author is not part of the family and seems to tell things as they were/are rather than only the family’s idealistic view of their past.

 

Certainly an unsavory beginning to the business, marred in slavery and human trafficking, followed by a plantation-esque company town. Second half of the book is more interesting. It discusses their business strategy in recent times in a little more detail.

 

The family seems like a bunch of ego maniacs. But minus the bizarre structure, it’s a pretty strong business – manages to still pull down 20% margins in a very competitive industry. They have committed many blunders and still seem to be doing just fine.

 

I'll leave you with probably the only TV ad for Tabasco I've ever seen. It's a good one: http://youtu.be/UQ3MRkdF9Sk.