MciIhenny's Gold

by Jeffrey Rothfeder

The story of the powerful McIlhennys of Louisiana, who turned hot peppers into a Tabasco fortune After the Civil War ended, Edmund McIlhenny, an ambitious and tenacious Louisiana businessman, found himself with few prospects. The South's economy in ruins and his millions of dollars in Confederacy currency worthless, he had no choice but to return with his wife, Mary, to her family home in Avery Island, a former sugar plantation destroyed by Union soldiers. To McIlhenny's surprise, the hot peppers he had planted before being forced off the island had flourished. Desperate to start a new business, he chopped up the peppers, combined them with salt and vinegar, and produced the first batch of hot pepper sauce. Or so the story goes. He called the sauce Tabasco. 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. In short order, McIlhenny's descendants would turn Tabasco into a gold mine and an icon of pop culture, making it as recognizable as far bigger brands such as Coca-Cola and Kleenex. To this day, the McIlhenny Co., still run by a family of matchless characters who believe in a rigid code of family loyalty, clings to tradition and the old ways of doing business. Yet by fiercely protecting its beloved brand and refusing to sell out to big food conglomerates, this family business has run circles around its competitors, churning out annual revenues that have surpassed everyone's expectations. 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Food, Biography, Business, American History

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

How A Louisiana Family Built The Tabasco Empire is quite a story. Most people know about the tabasco empire that the Mcilhenny family built on Avery Island in the bayou south of New Orleans but until now little was known about the crazy story and internecine politics that made the business the relative powerhouse it is today. Not surprisingly, one of the very traits that made it such a success from it’s founding in the years preceding the Civil War (family control) is one of the things that will likely be its undoing. Now run by the fifth generation of the descendants of Edmund McIlhenny, a refugee from Baltimore who structured it as a privately held corporation, but with the increasing number of family mouths to feed the declining profits in the 21st century make it increasingly unlikely it will be able to continue w/o being changed into a public company that will give it an infusion of cash to grow/modernize (and release it from the in-bred management style that has characterized the company since its inception).

The book was written with little help from the McIlhenny family, a notoriously closed bunch except for input from the disgruntled family members not pleased with the current generation of poor and ill-conceived management that oversees the dispersal of profits to family shareholders. The company is built on the lie that the founder (Edmund McIlhenny) started the company with a handful of Tabasco pepper plants given to him before the Civil War by a fellow named Friend Gleason (nice southern name, right?) and through considerable efforts raised these beautiful peppers which through trial and error he managed to produce the recipe for Tabasco sauce that the company still adheres to and closely guards with the use of copyright attorneys today. But as the author points out there was no such person by that name - it was contrived by Edmund and the fact is that there was a sauce made with these same peppers for ~20 years before McIlhenny’s produced their first batch of the stuff. Nonetheless their product was well liked by the locals who coming from the Caribbean, Africa and other parts of the world where hot spices were used to improve the flavor of otherwise bland foods. Over time one McIlhenny passed the reins of the corporation to one relative after another and some of them had a knack for business and agriculture to make the company prosper; some didn’t but with one notable exception there has only been one non-family member at the helm of the corporation and he was removed/replaced with fat Paul McIlhenny who felt he was the rightful heir to the position in the first place. Not liking the direction his predecessor took over the company by investing in large advertising campaigns (which happened to increase market share well beyond his non-familial precursor). Paul also replaced a number of the management staff and returned the company to its insular ways where it is today at the conclusion of the book in 2003.

One of the more interesting aspects of this story is the relationship between the family and the members of the labor force that produce the product from the fields to the modest factory. Located in Avery Island where labor is scarce the family essentially takes the form of latter day plantation owners and in fact built one of the first company run towns in the country. They realized that to keep labor down and family profits up they needed to secure a reliable source of cheap labor. They did this by building houses on the Island for the Creole/Cajun laborers employed by the factory. Not doing so meant they were dependent on shipping laborers from the nearby town of Lafayette which likely meant missed days of work due to lack of transportation, drunkenness etc. Over time Avery island came to house schools, a church and stores for the workers but as you can imagine the life they lead while reasonably good by the standards of the surrounding community was a far cry from the life the McIlhenny family lead in the manse. Still, the wretched wages paid and the fact that they employed a stratified labor force (blacks pick the peppers but are not allowed to live in company housing except for the house staff, creoles work the factory and whites manage the operation) leaves one with the idea that they are carrying on a form of slavery characteristic of the antebellum south.

All in all this is a very interesting and well-told story.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting history of the family that started Tabasco sauce. Well researched. A bit slow at times but overall very entertaining, filled with fun-facts about peppers, New Orleans, cooking, farming, the Civil War, etc.

[Eden · Rating 3 out of 5]

2021 bk 101. An interesting family, an interesting business, but the author didn't quite fulfill what I was looking forward to reading. I've read of Avery Island in other books and brief bits of how a McIlhenny is almost soley responsible for saving the snowy egrets. This revealed a little more of how he came to do this - but it was written as a tiny tidbit, not really of importance, when I think it was probably the single most important thing that this family has done. I wanted to learn more about the island's use as a bird sanctuary. There was a casual throw off of some people stopping by to get pictures when from other accounts, the McIlhenny's guarded their privacy and it was difficult to visit and see the birds. He handled the corporate manueverings well and did a good job researching the business, but faltered on the Civil Rights portion/break up of the company town feeling. You could tell the author had never lived in a company town and did not truly have a feel for all that involved.

[Nancee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would probably give this book 2.5 stars, but rounded up.

It was very informative about the beginnings of the Tabasco company, challenges they’ve faced over the last 100+ years and how they’ve overcome them (or failed to overcome them).

I was hoping for more information on the structure of how dividends and voting shares were set up, the amount of profit sharing the descendants receive, etc.

What I didn’t like about the book was the excessive flowery language throughout. I enjoyed the historical facts and stories, but the author tried too hard to use unnecessary in depth descriptions of unimportant details. It was just over the top and made it a little more difficult and boring to read.

[Sagar Godbole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deep dive into the family and business of the hot sauce I love. I enjoyed it!

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Take some spicy peppers along with other ingredients, an isolated island in the arch of the Louisiana Gulf wetlands and a secretive family that has focused on a single product that managed to change - or at least, enhance the local cuisine and flavoring across the world.

Edmund McIlhenny created his famous tabasco sauce on Avery Island, property of his wife's family shortly after the family which returned to an island decimated by Union occupational forces during the Civil War. McIlhenny Company was basically a one-product manufacturer that depended on word-of-mouth for sales initially but eventually broke into the larger markets. Then there is the bird sanctuary, the exotic plants transplanted by E.A. - Edmund's second son - along with the oil pipelines (buried or painted green to maintain the natural appearance of the island). Housing and churches and schools provided for the workers - incentives that keep workers loyal and paid lower wages because they did not have to 'rent' homes nor travel to and from the island.

Tabasco was one of the first family-run companies that managed to last although - due to the ever enlarging family owns the company and expects regular dividends - is experiencing spells of decline amidst the 'hot sauce' fascination.

Rothfeder does go into many of the legends surrounding the McIlhenny family and some of their actions regarding their famous sauce - often to the legend's detriment. Of course, Tabasco has become synonymous with pepper sauce along the lines of Coke, Kodak and aspirin. The company itself is still owned by the same family for the fourth generation - some individuals were willing to talk to him anonymously while the company remained silent.

2021-050

[Randall Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

A detailed, well-researched history of the McIlhenny family and their world-famous Tabasco Sauce, of which I am a great fan.

I enjoyed the detailed history of the founding of the company and the transfer among second- and third-generation family members. The tail end of the book dealing with the recent past did not interest me in the way the previous portions did. Granted, nearly 10 years have passed since this book was published. That might be part of the reason. However, I think the limitations of writing history in the present, especially without the cooperation of the subjects, caught up with Rothfeder at this point.

Regardless, this is an enjoyable read if you have any interest in learning the details of the Tabasco story. For one like me who keeps my kitchen stocked with McIlhenny brand products and who has made two pilgrimages to Avery Island, it serves that purpose. For the casual reader, this probably won't tickle their fancy as it did me. It has taken me 10 years but I've finally checked this book off my "to read" list. Worth the wait...

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

Category: A Book With An Element From the Periodic Table In The Title

A fascinating history of the Tobasco empire-- how it was built from nothing to the massive cultural empire icon that it is today.

Although not my favorite in this genre, I enjoyed the history, presented and the characters portrayed. It focuses, perhaps a bit to its detriment, on the business side (rather than the story) of the tobasco empire. I would have liked a bit more character.

It also could have been about 1/3 shorter, and a bit more readable.
But fans of southern history, or unique history, I would recommend this book.

[dejah_thoris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as audiobook before bed. Overall, the book was good and taught me several things. Tabasco is over a hundred and fifty years old and limited to (mostly) Avery Island. In its heyday, the Island was a family-owned, tight-knit, company town community that strived to replicate the positive aspects of paternalistic plantation life. Now, I'm not sure what I think about their product. The Island is a massive salt dome, which also kept production costs low, and seems like it should be a nature reserve, not a home for struggling farmhands. On the plus side, at least Tabasco is still made in America.

[Dan Seitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brisk and bit too short look at the famous Tabasco brand from its questionable beginnings to its surprisingly creepy history to its potentially doomed present.

In terms of gossip, tidbits, and history, it's pretty interesting. The McIlhenny clan are certainly colorful people. Unfortunately, it's held back a bit by the general unwillingness to fully confront the implications of the bizarre and rather appalling racial politics and labor practices of the McIlhenny family and company. Since this isn't endorsed by the family, who the author notes tried to shut down the book, he could stand to maybe discuss in more detail the rather serious implications of underpaying labor for dangerous, painful work on an island the family wouldn't allow Black people live on.

Nonetheless, if you're curious, it's worth a read.

[Alberto Rivera · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have liked the writer to provide more details about the business structure and management tactics. Informative in a historical context, but not what I was looking for. Tabasco is also losing its relevance to all the great hot sauce brands on the market.

[Kevin Harber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating history of the family behind Tabasco sauce and the brand they created. All the situations faced, solutions crafted, and self-inflicted problems created make a fantastic case study that covers nearly every aspect of business administration.

[Bob Adolfson · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting story and the efforts to stay #1

[Karishma Bhakta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story of how tabasco sauce was made and maintained throughout the decades.
Learn how the McIlhenny's family ran a pepper plantation, manufacturing factory and a corporate city.

[angelofmine1974]

DNF No Stars

My review of this book can be found on my Youtube Vlog at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pG4v...

Enjoy!

[Jim L · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re a fan of Tabasco...

If you’re a fan of Tabasco, this is a must read about the birth of the product and how it grew to be what it is today.

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read.

[Bharat Krishnan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn’t connect with the main characters and was written a bit dry

[Jim Hardison · Rating 4 out of 5]

comprehensive and engrossing

This is a very interesting history of a very interesting brand, business, and family. Along the way, lots of fascinating history of America and of peppers is revealed.

[Jill Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being from near Avery Island Louisiana, I found this book very interesting in its history and the information regarding the entire business. After reading the book, I'd like to tour the factory and island again to get more out of what I knew nothing about the first tour.

[Jan Talkington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sure a lot of the reason this book was interesting was that it is Louisiana and it talks about business and family, Having been published a few years back, it does feel a little incomplete but worth the read.

[Samhouston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rothfeder tells the story of a remarkable family, one that literally rose from the ashes of the Civil War to create a hugely successful business based on the sale of a single food product, a business that is still well known some 140 years later. In his research of the McIlhenny family, Rothfeder found that much of what has come to be accepted about the family’s history and the origin of Tabasco sauce is simply untrue. So many myths surround the family and its product, in fact, that even family members have found it difficult to separate fact from fiction.

When Edmund McIlhenny, fifty years old at the end of the Civil War, and prior to the war a successful New Orleans banker, returned to Louisiana in 1865 he found that the Avery family he had married into was largely destitute. The family’s rich sugar cane plantation was no more and the only thing of value still in family hands was Petit Anse, the little island that was later to be renamed Avery Island.

Edmund McIlhenny was a businessman, not a farmer. As a pre-war banker, he learned to market himself personally to such a degree that he became the best known and most sought after financial man in New Orleans. His marketing skills, and his willingness to bend the truth when it made for a better story, have made it difficult to determine exactly when he became aware of the chili pepper from Mexico’s Tabasco region and how he decided to make hot sauce the new family business. What is clear, however, is that he made the right decision and that he created a business that has served his family well for four generations.

The McIlhenny product has been a high quality one from the beginning. The three-year chili paste aging process and the inability to use mechanized pickers to gather the delicate chili peppers requires that manufacturing costs, especially labor costs, be controlled as tightly as possible. That concern led to the near recreation of the plantation system on Avery Island, a company town so complete with free shelter, medical care, schools and churches that white employees had little reason to ever leave little Avery Island. McIlhenny Co. workers, almost guaranteed a job for life, became extremely loyal to the company that provided them with everything they needed. This system lasted until a few years ago and was key to the company’s success.

McIlhenny Co., still based on the sale of a single product, has become a $250 million per year business but it is facing difficult times because one of its previous strengths has turned into its greatest weakness. The company has always been run by a member of the McIlhenny family and for three generations the family was blessed to have a family member ready to take on the job and to do it adequately, if not always completely well. But, as almost always happens in a closely held family business, future generations do not always see things through the eyes of its founder. McIlhenny Co. is at a historical crossroads and its future will be determined by a generation of McIlhennys who may decide that it is time finally to sell the company to the highest bidder rather than make the effort to keep it the tightly controlled family business that it has been for more than 140 years.

Jeffrey Rothfeder has written a well-researched history, complete with interviews of many McIlhenny family members and key employees, a history that tells the story of a fascinating family and business. McIlhenny Co. may not serve as a blueprint for future businesses, but it is hard to argue with what the company has achieved across parts of three centuries.

[Domenico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much has happened in the decade since this book was published and if you look at where the company/family is today, another big shift must have occurred. The story of the McIlhenny family and its golden goose, Tabasco sauce, is one big tall tale of the South, from pre-war New Orleans and new money Easterners wooing much younger plantation Belles to a modern family living off the declining profits of a once great family business. One scion was a Rough Rider with Teddy Roosevelt on San Juan Hill, another made naturalist expeditions to the Arctic Circle that remain groundbreaking today. A third was a decorated hero of World War II. And yet for all their accomplishments, they still exaggerated even more.

But it's also a story of a paternalistic plantation family that had all the complicated relationships with its poor black and white workers that characterize the history of the antebellum South. It's a history of contradictions, sometimes eschewing outdated racial customs, sometimes hewing to them.

It's a story of superlatives too, the biggest and first salt mine in the US, the wealthiest and most influential Louisiana family, the purest and longest aged hot sauce, the most popular in the world.

Only a few food products can say they've been on the market as long as Tabasco. A.1. Steak Sauce, Heinz Ketchup, and few others. And through it all, that ubiquitous bottle of red sauce, the red hot sauce that is the economic predecessor of the latest trend, Sriracha. And yet it endures.

After I finished the book, I sought some more recent material online about the McIlhennys and Tabasco and found a number of interesting Youtube videos. They provide a little more updated information about the company and it's sauce. I suggest finding them.

[Bruce Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great history of McIlhenney's and Tabasco Sauce history. Still family run and isolated on Avery Island, the book details the interesting social, political and business changes over the last 150 years. Glad we took the drive around the island perimeter Christmas 2013. Edward McIlhenney had amazing 40 year run as CEO, great white father, saver of snowy egrets, creator of jungle gardens with Buddha statue, and polisher of the ultimate worker village "Tango." Founder Edmund was a rough rider with Teddy Roosevelt and hosted amazing high society party after Mardi Gras in the Avery Island salt mine, attended by TR's daughter Alice and including tables/chairs made of salt. Book exposes the mythical tall tales publicized by the company, but still acknowledges the success of the brand and business, particularly rising from civil war ruins and becoming successful in the post-slavery south at a time when many agricultural operations suffered. Interesting recounting of the sly maneuvering that let to their unfair ability to trademark the name Tabasco.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

McIlhenny’s Gold recounts the history of how one family took a devastated piece of swamp land after the Civil War and turned it into a business empire by producing Tabasco. This hot sauce that is known by name is grown from local ingredients all found on one island in Mississippi. From its days of muscling out competitors to the mismanagement of future generations and being saved by other members in a family battle royale this book appears to have it all. It is a quick read that tells about a story that not many people know. It is a good choice for business historians, those interested in quirky cultural history or those who just want to read some off the wall light history. Overall good research, well written and does a great job of shedding light on something you don’t hear about very often.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I finished reading the introductory pages of McIlhenny's Gold, which outline the company's officially promulgated background story, I mused, "That's a short and sweet story. Now what's Rothfeder going to write about for the rest of the book?" It turns out that behind the tale that McIlhenny Co. would have you believe, the story unearthed by Rothfeder depends far more on the sociopolitical context of the insular family and its business.

He has skillfully distilled interview upon interview into a concise tableau of the McIlhenny family's impact on America, the South, and its own members. While this wasn't my fastest read ever, I did enjoy his insights and thorough explanations of the factors that have led Tabasco sauce to be the household name it is today.

[sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-written account of the history of Tabasco brand pepper sauce and the McIlhenny family that stewards it. It tracks the famous brand from its development (the idea for the sauce was stolen; the recipe was concocted primarily by the, ahem, Negros) to its consolidation of power (the section regarding the attempt to trademark "Tabasco" is the best part of the book) to its current challenges. Along the way we hear about the innovative and worker-friendly aspects of the company and the racist, unethical, and insular sides, too.

[Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Louisiana history. Though there are interviews with some McIlhenny family members and various Tabasco insiders, the book is written primarily from an outsider's perspective, so you don't have to worry about this being a 200 page ad for Tabasco. It's truly a remarkable story about a family-owned business that rose out of the ashes of the Civil War and thrives even today, largely following the same model that it has since its very inception. Well-written and a quick read.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. I remember thinking to myself when I started it; how is he going to write an entire book about the McIlhenny family and Tabasco sauce? Mr. Rothfeder does it though and in an entertaining way.

My only critique is that on almost every page I had to look up words to check their meaning. I'm fairly well read and I do enjoy increasing my vocabulary, but sometimes I just wanted to relax and read the book. I felt sometimes that he could have used a more common word or phrase and it would have flowed better. Am I the only one that felt this way?

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly entertaining for a business book. The McIlhenny family is truly one of the oddest family business owners I've ever heard of. Did you know that they are the only company to have a trademark on an actual kind of pepper (the Tabasco pepper)? Or that E.A. McIlhenny, the third CEO of the company, is responsible for the nutria problem in the United States? Yeah, it's pretty interesting, especially for those of us who grew up with this brand and love the stuff on everything. :)