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T he story of Baumer Foods is, in many ways, the story of America. The company was founded in New Orleans in 1923 by Alvin Baumer, who came to the city after the Civil War. Though the finer details of the story have been lost in the mists of time, according to legend, Alvin, using a loan from his father-in-law, bought a sno-ball syrup manufacturing facility on Tchoupi toulas Street near downtown. While going through the files of the company they’d just bought, Alvin ran across a hot sauce recipe (which is the ultimate ironic find at a sno-ball company). He gave it a go and, like everyone who has had their famous hot sauce for the century to follow, he was blown away. Thus was born Crystal Hot Sauce. If you live in the city, you might have noticed a giant “Crystal Preserves” sign over a renovated apartment complex on Tulane Avenue in Mid-City. That is indeed the very same Crystal of Baumer Foods fame. That building was at one time their main produc tion facility. During World War II, to help the war effort, Crystal got into the preserves business, making jams and such for U.S. soldiers overseas. They moved from Tchoupi toulas Street to the Mid-City site, where they had more room to bottle, jar and can their products. After the war’s conclusion, they continued doing so, as they had exploded in popularity. The company was a fixture there, operating continuously until 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, which devastated Mid-City, flooding and ruining everything in the 75-year-old plant. It took several months to get back to work after the storm. About two years later, Baumer Foods moved a little down the river to Reserve, Louisiana. Flooding was no longer a threat, but it would not be the last trial the company faced. “Remaining in operation for a century is not something that is easily done!” says Pepper Baumer, the president of Baumer Foods. “That’s a testament to my family’s legacy and our devotion to quality and taste.” Of late, the company has had to contend with the fallout from the pandemic, which first brought the global supply chain to a halt, and now leaves it in terrible disarray. And yet Pepper, the third-generation leader of the company, hasn’t stopped finding ways to keep Louisiana well-stocked with

Crystal’s History is Peppered with Milestones By David W. Brown Everyone on the Gulf Coast knows Crystal Hot Sauce, that culinary staple found on home dinner tables, at restaurants, and in kitchens the world over. What you might not know is that this year, Baumer Foods, which makes Crystal, is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The company produces 4.5 million gallons of their hot sauce every year, bottles of which can be found in 30 countries around the planet. (Next time you are in Dubai and want the taste of New Orleans, you will be in luck.) Which means Crystal isn’t just a local tradition — it is a global phenomenon.

Crystal. And because Baumer Foods is a family business, he always has his father as a sounding board. “My father is great for that. He’ll say, ‘Yeah, we’ve done that before and it didn’t work! But maybe you can try this, or try that,’” says Pepper. “So it’s good to have that voice of reason.” Today, Crystal is the most popular hot sauce in Louisiana and one of the top 10 hot sauces in America. Not that Crystal is Baumer Foods’ only product, however. “Crystal Hot Sauce is our flagship, obviously, but we make soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, teriyaki sauce and wing sauce,” says Pepper. In addition, they own a liquid smoke company called Figaro. On top of that, they have an industrial business line in which they make their product for other food companies to use as an ingredient. Crystal’s bottle is famously bigger than Tabasco, but on industrial scales, companies need bigger containers yet. “We sell entire tanker trucks full of hot sauce,” he says. To make all that hot sauce, it takes an astounding 15 million pounds of crushed peppers. Their lines are rolling out three and-a-half million cases of product per year. And though supply chain hiccups have dampened the company’s big plans for their hundredth anniversary, for Pepper, just continuing to produce their Louisiana sensation is a triumph — and anyway, there is no rush to throw any parties. They can always roll out the festivities well into next year, which in a sense is the perfect New Orleans way of doing things. “Our tagline is ‘How New Orleans Does Flavor,’” says Pepper. “Our product really encapsulates that New Orleans way of

38 ROUSES SUMMER 2023