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vanilla and cinnamon flavored soda is meant to match the flavor of King Cake, the iconic, super-sweet confection that is all but inescap- able during the Mardi Gras season, and is typically decorated with icing and sugar in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold. The seasonal product is, like Abita’s root beer, made with Louisiana sugarcane. Rouses promotes it by placing it alongside its non-liquid King Cakes. In 2012, as the down-market reputation of canned beer began to fade among consumers, Abita decided to finally make their products available in cans, beginning with Amber lager, Purple Haze and Jockamo IPA. Rouses knew it wanted to be on the frontline of that innovation; the market was the first in the state to sell the canned beer. (In 2015, Abita began to sell its root beer in cans as well.) Sometimes the ongoing collaboration between Rouses and Abita takes unexpected turns. In 2012, the market offered customers a glaze for hams that was made with Abita Root Beer. (That same year, Rouses also created a glaze made with another local product, Steen’s Pure Cane Syrup.) In 2018, Abita and Rogue Creamery, a cheese- maker based in Oregon, teamed up to create Andygator Cheddar Cheese, named after Abita’s “high-gravity” brew. The cheese and beer mash-up was sold exclusively at Rouses. (Since Abita promotes the beer as being a good accompaniment to cheese, it only made sense to skip the middleman and make some cheese themselves.) Abita employees set up frequent tastings in the various Rouses locations. Sometimes these involved the seemingly endless line of limited-series brews that Abita whips up. These have in the past included Lounging Iguanas, an IPA flavored with pineapple and coconut; and Maison Blanc, a limited edition, Louisiana-only pale wheat ale Abita put out in 2017 to mark New Orleans’ tricentennial. (If there is any doubt that Abita is still, at heart, a Louisiana brand, all you have to do is take a look at the names that make up their line: Big Easy IPA; The Boot; Mardi Gras Bock; Bayou Bootlegger Hard Root Beer; Strawgator; and a juicy pale ale called Hop-On, as in hopping on a streetcar.) Throughout their long partnership, Rouses and Abita have had the pleasure of seeing each other grow together from small, Louisiana- based family operations to something quite considerably larger. These cross promotions work well, according to Acosta. “The more we display, the more they buy,” he remarked.

Rouses had a handful of outlets in 1986, when Abita opened its doors. Now, the chain has 64 stores, including three in Mississippi and eight in Alabama. Abita, meanwhile, has flourished, becoming one of the most recognizable craft beer brands in the country. There is now a popular brew pub on the site where the original Abita brewery was, where you can order gumbo, po-boys, muffu- letta sandwiches and, of course, beer. “We helped each other,” added Blossman. “One thing I appreciate is, they are all about Louisiana and family. They understand the pride people take in everything Louisiana. It’s great to see them enjoy success.” Blossman mentioned that Donald Rouse, and his children Donny Rouse and Ali Rouse Royster, have all taken the time to visit Abita and check in with the company. “That was very nice,” he said. “They didn’t have to do that. They saw us as a supplier partner.” Today, Rouses carries dozens of Louisiana craft beers, including products from Urban South Brewery, Port Orleans Brewing Co., NOLA Brewing Company and Second Line Brewing in New Orleans; Crying Eagle Brewing Company in Lake Charles; Tin Roof Brewing Co. in Baton Rouge; Great Raft Brewing in Shreveport; Parish Brewery in Broussard; Gnarly Barley Brewing Co. in Hammond; and Bayou Teche Brewery in Arnaudville. Many of these brash young brewers have opened up just in the last decade. Abita is no longer a lonely outpost in the Louisiana beer universe. But there will always be a special place for Abita in every Rouses Market beer aisle. Abita is carried at every one of Rouses’ locations. And, because of the brewery’s many different expressions, it commands the most shelf real estate of any local beer, including in the markets on Power Boulevard in Metairie and on Village Market Street in Baton Rouge — the two Rouses with the largest craft beer selec- tions. Additionally, Rouses offers Abita beer in its original 1980s form — draft — at two stores: on Center Court Boulevard in Baton Rouge and South Acadia Road in Thibodaux — the town where one-time Abita rookie salesman Leo Basile first noticed a grocery store named Rouses. “I just think it’s a good relationship,” said Blossman. “They’re looking after the better good of Louisiana businesses. It’s not faked. It’s in their DNA. It’s who they are.” “Rouses has been around a lot longer than we have,” admitted Basile, “but they have grown, and we have grown as well.”

46 MARCH•APRIL 2020