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the Holiday issue

spill, it was the family’s faith that yet again carried them through. Chalin knows the business inside and out. His knowledge of the industry is impressively extensive, evidence that he has paid attention to Tommy’s guidance over the years and has gleaned fromhis father’s passion for an industry whose voice matters significantly when it comes to standards and regulations that affect the seafood business on a daily basis. “Our workforce is our best equipment,” Chalin says. “We have employees who are dedicated day in and day out to make sure they are doing the best possible job to provide the best possible product from a reliable source. Quality and consistency are our strengths.” Chalin considers his family and the business as not only a source of product and income, but of strength and energy.“We have to make sure we are good examples to our employees,which in turn creates a healthy work environment with people giving 100 percent.” And while he is hesitant to talk about it, the family believes heavily in the spirit of paying it forward. After the recent Louisiana floods,

photo by Denny Culbert

public relations, while two others sons, Sean and Christian, work in operations. A cousin and his daughter are in the customer relations department. Chalin’s oldest friend works with the Delaunes, as do drivers and employees who Chalin says have been with the company since he was in diapers. A company chef known as “Chef Willie” prepares a family style lunch every day, cooking good “soul food,” as Chalin describes. The word soul is not used lightly. There’s a lot of joy in this family that’s undergirded by a strong faith, which has served them well in the good times and the bad. To say this is a resilient bunch is the very definition of understatement. In 2004, the Delaune family bought their current processing plant and completed major renovations to change it over from a produce plant to a seafood plant, but the next year Hurricane Katrina ravaged the 20,000-square-foot facility located right off the Jordan levee on the Industrial Canal. They managed to save some wet documents and personal things like birth certificates, passports, any kind of I.D., and insurance papers.“We got the stuff out and had to carry it over our heads, through the water, up the levee, and when we got home, we spread all the papers out on a driveway and used a hair dryer to dry everything,” recalls Tommy. Product loss and accounts receivable loss cost the company $2.5 million. And then came another leap of faith: close or keep going. “We only had a decision to keep going,” he says. “There wasn’t any other decision. Closing our doors for good wasn’t an option.” Resilience and their deep faith led the family through Hurricanes Gustav, Ike, and Isaac. When hit hard in 2010 with the BP oil

Tommy’s Seafood donated more than 50,000 pounds of fish and shrimp — enough to feed over 100,000 people — who had to seek shelter.They are heavily invested in their home state, and to fishermen far and wide. “We are resilient when we are united,” says Chalin. Tommy’s Seafood distributes nationwide, and their network is vast, both in terms of sourcing and distributing. “We sell more local shrimp, crab, oysters, fish and crawfish than anyone on the Gulf Coast,” says James, Rouses Seafood & Meat Director. “Tommy’s helps makes that possible.” “We have such deep respect for Rouses’ commitment to family and community,” says Tommy. “Their support and partnership has given us the experience we needed to grow our company, and the seafood industry the support it needed, especially in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast.” Tommy firmly believes quality begins at the source, a belief he says the Rouse family shares. “By only accepting the best and freshest seafood, we not only provide a superior product to our customers, but also do our part to support the local economy, just as Rouses does. Like us, they have weathered many storms and stuck with us in good times and in bad.” Tommy’s Seafood trucks showcase the Rouses logo, a display of gratitude for the relationship rooted in promoting local products in communities. “When we pull up to a dock, we are happy to show the fishermen that we are there to pick up the fruits of their hard labor on behalf of Rouse’s, products that are high-quality always.” This holiday season, Tommy’s Seafood will once again supply the delicious seafood — crabmeat, shrimp, and oysters — that are staples in many holiday dishes.

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MY ROUSES EVERYDAY NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2016