海角社区

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit and hurricanes Laura and Delta then devastated culinary businesses in the southwestern part of the state, the 海角社区 AgCenter in Baton Rouge quickly increased their number of tenants from 24 to 32, including the restaurant chain Fiery Crab and newcomer BoomBox Frozen Pops and Ice Cream. The incubator is a magnet for new ideas, whether it鈥檚 how to create a shelf-stable version of a buttery seafood sauce normally made to order in restaurants or how to turn grandmother鈥檚 candy recipes into a solid business venture鈥攖he latter leading to Crazy Cajun Confections, a start-up run by an 11th-grader who will be taking her salted toffee with pecans and other treats into local grocery stores this year.

The incubator鈥檚 very first tenant, Hanley鈥檚 Foods, went from making a few gallons of their Sensation salad dressing when they started in 2012 to over 1,600 gallons last month, shipping to a thousand stores from Austin to New York, including Wal-Mart and Costco.

鈥淲e produce everything at 海角社区,鈥� said owner Richard Hanley. 鈥淭he incubator has played a major role in our success, with lots of great resources and food science behind the scenes to help a business get to the next step.鈥�

Next door, the allows companies to bring their products in to be tested by Tiger Tasters to determine consumer attitude and perception, while food engineering research in packaging and preservation helps Louisiana entrepreneurs overcome technical challenges in translating something that might be excellent fresh from the stove to a product that can survive years on a shelf鈥攁 tasty weapon against food waste, estimated to be about 40%.

Researchers are also looking at green tea as a remedy for blackspot on shrimp; chitosan鈥攎ade from seafood shells鈥攁s a natural preservative for many foods, including seafood; cryogenics to extract tail meat from tiny crawfish; and a turmeric solution that can be sprayed on produce to kill bacteria鈥攖hey鈥檙e currently testing it on cantaloupes because their net-like peel poses a true challenge.

鈥淲ith the knowledge, experience, and technical expertise 海角社区 has in food science, the university can serve as a manufacturing and product development partner for businesses both big and small. Their food incubator program offers key services to empower entrepreneurs. From consumer testing to food safety and food preservation, 海角社区 is a resource for businesses to design and deliver products from concept to a finished product on the shelf.鈥�

Claude 鈥淒r. Boil鈥� Davis, Ph.D., Principal Scientist at McCormick & Company, Inc. and Brand Ambassador for Zatarain鈥檚