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votes for Rouses every year. The company has been voted Best Supermarket in every community that it serves, and gets that vote almost every year. “It’s a huge deal for us as a company, and for our team members, to know that our customers appreciate what we’re doing,” said Donny. “They’re enjoying shopping with us, they recognize we’re on the right path, that we’re doing what’s right. Let’s keep moving forward. We’re always asking ourselves, what can we do different so that we can continue achieving those expectations our customers have for us.” And word of mouth spreads. Customers, he said, are always asking him to build a location in their neighborhoods. “We’re always looking, always studying markets and visiting them. But we don’t want to expand just for the sake of expanding. We want it to be a good fit for the community. When we find the right location, it’s the right location!” That speaks to one of the secrets to the success of Rouses, he said: staying true to the company’s local roots, and true to the communities it serves. “I always say, you’re either local or you’re not. And we are local. There’s a lot of people who pretend to be local, but we are the local Gulf Coast grocery store. We are the one that the local farmers and fishermen come to sell their products to, because they know we’re passionate about it. We’re not just going to throw it in an ad and hope for the best. We’re actually going to sell it.” For Donny, the company’s relation ships with its suppliers, with its team members, with its customers, with its communities — they’re all personal. “We have many handshake deals with suppliers rather than written contracts. We really get to know the farmers and the fishermen and the manufacturers we work with, and we do it on a personal basis. It can’t just be a paper relationship.” Rouses trusts its partners, he explained, and they have to be able to trust Rouses, so that everyone can continue growing together. “You know, if a farmer has a bad year and the crop is not that good, they need to trust that Rouses will still be there to support them, and take every thing in that we can, because we want to be able to work with them again the following year and the one after it.” Because when you get right down to it, Donny said, it’s all about community.

Photo by Romney Caruso

“Community is who we are. That’s our culture. When we expand into areas, we’re supporting the local schools, sponsoring the local sports teams, engaging the local community — because community is our culture. We hire local when we open stores. They learn the Rouses culture, and we learn the local culture of those markets.” The nice part about Rouses being based all along the Gulf Coast is that our communities have a lot in common. “You know, what we eat is very similar, the sports teams we cheer for are very similar, our love of family and cooking and celebration, all very similar. I know that we are privileged to be from here, and I can’t wait to keep growing to serve even more people in our Gulf Coast communities in the future.”

DONNY ROUSE’S BOUDIN BISCUIT

ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT This is how I do breakfast: Our Rouses boudin, removed from the casing and cooked in a hot pan with a little butter until it’s crisp and caramelized. Serve it on a warm buttermilk biscuit. We sell them in the Rouses bakery, or you can make your own if you’re feeling ambitious. Top it with an over-medium egg and a drizzle of Hot Lava Sauce. You can also add grilled onions or shredded pepper jack, if that’s how you like it. It’s messy. It’s spicy. And it’s absolutely worth waking up for. Or, try it wrapped in a warm tortilla.

Noni’s Kitchen’s Noni’s Kitchen’s Hot Lava Finishing Sauce is made in Lafayette, Louisiana. It’s a pepper jelly sauce with the consistency of honey that is sweet, spicy and just right on a boudin biscuit. It comes in Strawberry, Blackberry and Original; the recipe was inspired by the co-founder’s mom. Noni’s Kitchen also makes classic Pepper Jelly and Mayhaw Jelly.

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