Case Studies Region: Southeast

When grocery stores put out bins of corn, the floor tends to get littered with husks and corn silk. Plus, many people peel the husks to inspect the quality, sometimes throwing the cob back if it’s not to their liking. Seeing this mess, as well as the frustration of grocery store workers, Robert Reesor and […]

His dining concepts popular in and around Atlanta, Louis Soon is taking them elsewhere. Not too hastily, however, as he says he won’t risk compromising quality. But Soon senses a bigger market for all the brands under his Maven Restaurant Group.  Soon to be introduced to neighboring Alabama is the rustic Butcher & Brew, whose […]

When a steakhouse needed a new oven but couldn’t afford it because business had slowed during the COVID-19 pandemic, CRS paid for it and provided a financing plan. Then, it installed and serviced the oven. According to Derek Clark, the owner and vice president of CRS, or Clark Restaurant Service, this was just business as […]

Imagine walking down New Orleans’ Magazine Street, the first five blocks of which were created in 1788. A stone’s throw from the Mississippi river, the street is now six miles long and lined with quaint shops occupying buildings constructed in the 1850s. Restaurants are abundant, but one serves up both culinary and musical delights: Juan’s […]

Erik Estrada apparently is cool with the concept of his circa-1970s TV show inspiring a burger at a slowly but steadily growing chain of very basic bars. Recently he chanced upon a Jack Brown’s in rural Tennessee and enjoyed a so-called Ponch burger named after his character in “CHiPs,” Patrolman Francis Poncherello. That’s a toasted […]

It’s that whiff of vanilla, that cherry tartness, or the pucker of lemon you remember from candy as a kid. Or it’s that taste of peanut butter you enjoy in your cocktail-hour whiskey. “We make memories through flavors,” says Al Murphy. “Our flavors are part of everyday life experience—think back to childhood and those impressions.” […]

There’s nothing like sinking your teeth into the perfect, mouth-watering Wagyu ribeye. The marbling of the cut; the soft, velvety texture; the unctuous flavor achieved by grilling over an open flame. As steaks go, these premium cuts are as good as it gets. Francois Leger, owner of FPL Food, LLC, has been selling high-quality Wagyu […]

When the oil industry in Morgan City, Louisiana collapsed in 1982, Greg Hamer quickly found himself out of work. He never thought his future would be in the taco business. After all, he hated Mexican food. What he noticed about his hometown, however, was its glaring lack of Mexican restaurants. After doing some research, Hamer […]

There’s a lot of sugar in Stephen Savoie’s blood. It’s been passed down through generations and flows through the family he works with at Lula-Westfield LLC. For 150 years, through price swings, increased production costs, industry consolidations and a 1997 merger, Lula-Westfield has been growing and processing sugar cane in Louisiana. Named CEO on March […]

Charles “Chuck” Obern discovered his passion for growing things as a high school student in the early 1970s, working in nurseries located north of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Now, as the founder of C&B Farms, his produce stocks the shelves of many grocery store chains around the country. His farms, located in Clewiston, Florida, and Cape Charles, […]