McIlhenny's Gold
How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire
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4.1 • 10 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
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.
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This portrait of the eccentric family that brought the world Tabasco sauce isn't exactly hot, but it's certainly flavorful. Rothfeder digs deep into "one of the most profitable and oldest family businesses in U.S. history" McIlhenny Co., founded in 1869 on a salt-mine island off Louisiana and has fun sorting family legend from fact. The early years including setting up a plantation with workers' housing that remained in operation until only a few years ago were the company's most eventful. After winning a dubious legal battle to trademark "Tabasco," McIlhenny Co. settled in as a sluggish one-product manufacturer relying on word of mouth. So it's a good thing for readers that the McIlhennys have left such colorful and controversial legacies as collectors, conservationists, citizens and especially CEOs. Granted, with its unique circumstances and "relatively simple, one-dimensional Tabasco business model," McIlhenny Co. is of little use as a corporate case study, except perhaps as an example of how family ownership can destabilize even a sure thing. Despite the company's "ebbing sales and profits" even in the midst of a hot-sauce craze, Rothfeder's tale is balanced and always entertaining, and may please at least some of those who shake a few drops of Tabasco on whatever they're eating.
