Tabasco maker scraps museum to build levee

[elehhhhna]

Source: Reuters
NEW ORLEANS, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The maker of the world famous Tabasco hot pepper sauce has scrapped plans for a museum to pay for a more urgent need: the building of a levee to protect itself from another hurricane.

McIlhenny Co. will shore up its Avery Island facility in Louisiana, 15 months after Hurricane Rita's tidal surge came within inches of flooding the plant and halting production of Tabasco, The Times-Picayune newspaper reported on Thursday.

The plant, which sits over 9 feet (3 meters) above sea level and 13 miles (21 km) from the Gulf of Mexico, will be protected by a 17-foot (5.2-metre) levee that will cost $4.5 million.

"We've got to protect the nation from bland food," company vice president Tony Simmons said.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N14437648.htm

[Maiden England]

1. We've got to protect the nation from bland food

Oh I love it!

Of course it will also protect the people that live on the family's land, and of course the nature reserve thats there too.

[Double T]

2. At least SOMEONE in Louisiana has their priorities straight..........

Maybe would should outsource FEMA and the ARMY CORPS of ENGINEERS to McIlhenny Co.

[longship]

3. McIlhenny's has a history of helping people.

During big hurricanes they open their hurricane-proof factory to people in the area for shelter. They feed them (obviously quite well, I've heard).

This is a good company with a social conscience.

[Double T]

6. Didn't know there were ANY COMPANIES with a social conscience left......

Thanks for the info......time to restock the Tabasco Products, TODAY!

[951-Riverside]

18. They are doing this to protect their own company facilities

...which I have no problem with but its far from having a social conscience.

[Solon]

24. True, but if what post 3 said is true...

then they are basically making a community emergency hurricane shelter, with good food to boot! If it saves them a few bucks so they don't have to rebuild/cleanup the building after a hurricane, that's just a bonus.

[Xithras]

26. McIlhenny's is still family owned.

No stockholders or big corporate investors to answer to. This lets them HAVE a conscious if they want to.

With most companies being owned by stockholders, most CEO's are afraid to act with a conscious because doing so reduces profits and dividends, and doing THAT will get you sued or fired.

[hootinholler]

12. Yep, and everyone ets a big bottle of tobasco with every paycheck. n/t

[malaise]

35. That is great news

Clearly they're a 'hot ' company

[Ian_rd]

4. You're doin' a heckuva job, Tobascy!

As much as I support the preservation and diffusion of knowledge facilitated by a museum, especially one devoted to spicy condiments, I must place protection from natural disasters as a higher priority.

[StaggerLee]

5. Time to buy another bottle of Tabasco!

or three... or four...

MMMM mmmmmm MMMMMMMMMMMM!

(On more than one level)

[dhill926]

7. Great in bloody marys.....

[lpbk2713]

8. And scrambled eggs.

I think I'll buy a bottle next time I'm at the store.

[Bridget Burke]

9. Scrambling eggs was my first cooking lesson....

And my mother demonstrated how to add a dash of Tabasco.

[Spiffarino]

11. And gumbo, red beans, black beans, etoufee, jambalaya...n/t

[Spiffarino]

10. It's nice to feel good about something I always buy

Unless we want to live a prehistoric life, we're pretty much forced to buy electricity from power companies that pump mercury and CO2 into the air, paper from the companies that pollute inland waterways with dioxin, gasoline from countries that fund terrorists or spill crude over pristine wilderness.

Knowing the maker of my favorite flavor is also a good citizen only adds to the pleasure.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

13. And they make the cute little bottles

..for MRE's. Makes unidentifiable mush very tasty. mmmm

[Cocoa]

14. Tabasco is the only brand name food I must have

good to know my brand loyalty is directed toward a good company.

[never cry wolf]

15. Um, here's another take on it, not so generous

The company is scrapping plans for a downtown revitalization project (museum) to build a levee around it's plant. It's not building a levee for N.O. in general, just around it's plant, at the expense of a potential tourist destination.

Hot sauce gives N.O. a cold shoulder: McIlhenny Co., the makers of Tabasco, have put plans for a New Orleans museum on hold and will instead spend money on a levee to protect its Avery Island production plant, The Times-Picayune says. McIlhenny had planned to build a museum, retail store and cooking school on St. Charles Avenue, but the company says a levee is more important now. Hurricane Rita came within inches of flooding the plant, a move that would have stopped Tabasco production for months.

http://www.businessreport.com/newsDetail.cfm?aid=10375&...

[elehhhhna]

17. The Museum is a "nice to have", the levee is a "must have"...

if the plant washes away, their source of philanthropy washes away with it.

[never cry wolf]

19. That is true, however

A $4.5M investment in downtown N.O. would do a lot more to help the city recover than $4.5M worth of inert concrete around a production plant. True, they were threatened by Katrina, within inches, but they were not washed away by the worse weather disaster in the US in my lifetime.

Both are important investments but it seemed to me that the posts in reaction to the OP seemed to assume that they were donating the cash to help the N.O. levee system in general. It is, instead, to protect their profit center.

Sorry if I sound cynical but this is not an act of philanthropy.

[jilln]

27. They only have so much money...

Seems to me protecting their factory and the workers' jobs is not a bad plan. They can still do the museum later if they choose.

[baldguy]

20. A neocon dream come true.

Private concerns pay for everything including "public" works projects, expecting to make a profit out of it. Gov't pays for nothing, because they see no "need".

[shadowknows69]

22. Fine by me

should be no need to pay our taxes then

[baldguy]

25. You don't think the Federal Gov't should pay for levees in NO?

[shadowknows69]

32. Yes I do

But they're not doing much in the way of helping americans lately. Joking.

[tammywammy]

16. Smoked Chipotle Tabasco Sauce

lip-smacking delicious!

Chipotle: http://countrystore.tabasco.com/index_category_more.cfm...


The regular Tabasco sauce isn't my favorite hot sauce, but it's good. I prefer this homemade, hot hot hot stuff, that you seriously only use two or three drops of. Tabasco got a nice flavor, but sometimes I just want hot hot hot.

[Bigmack]

28. Chipotle is better than teenage sex!!

To me, their regular Tabasco is one-dimensional, but the smokey and hot and mellow Chipotle sauce is perfect on ANYTHING!

I'm gonna try it on ice cream... and pudding... and ....

Warning... Usually, if I like anything this much, they stop making it. Stock up.. and send glowing reviews of this product to McIlhenny's.

[tammywammy]

30. I'm addicted to almost everything Chipotle

And Tabasco was just added to this list.

I found a chipotle dip mix a month ago at a craft fair, and was in heaven.

I may as well buy this by the case.

[shadowknows69]

21. Hot sauce

is there anything it can't do?

[noonwitch]

23. That is really good for the people in the area

I'm partial to Crystal Hot Sauce, though, which is also made in Louisiana.

[tammywammy]

31. I tried Cryastal's once

I didn't care for it. It was more salty and not as flavorful as I'd like, and very very mild for my tastes.

[noonwitch]

33. I have a sensitive mouth, but like tangy tastes.

So Crystal is perfect for me. I also like the vinegar undertaste to it.

[tammywammy]

34. Well, that explains it

I'm Cajun, so the hotter the better.

I had a boss in high school who couldn't take anything hot. He had moved here (DFW) from New Jersey. Once a co-worker and I dared him to eat a mild pepper for $2. He cried while he swallowed because it was so hot. It was very entertaining, and there were a lot of people watching.

[judaspriestess]

29. oysters with tabasco

fritos with tabasco and lemon, yuuuuummy

I love tabasco so I will buy them exclusively here on out.

[mike_c]

36. tabasco is the One True Hot Sauce....

I grew up eating Tabasco on damn nearly everything. Yum!