Original Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce Acquired by Southeastern Mills

Southeastern Mills Inc. has acquired The Original Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce and related assets from New Iberia, La.-based Bruce Foods Corp. This acquisition includes all of the brands and intellectual property related to the hot sauce business, as well as the manufacturing and warehouse facilities in New Iberia.

With an 80-year history, The Original Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce continues to use the time-honored techniques of Cajun cooking and is produced from three all-natural ingredients, including carefully selected and handpicked, authentic sun-ripened, long cayenne chili peppers. 

The original hot sauce of Louisiana, featuring the famous red dot on the label, can be found in all major U.S. grocers, restaurants from coast to coast, and as a key ingredient in many favorite food products found on grocery shelves and in popular restaurant dishes. It is also distributed in more than 60 countries.

Other brands acquired include Louisiana wing sauce, Red Rooster hot sauce, Louisiana Gold Pepper Sauce, Louisiana brand Tabasco Peppers in Vinegar, and Bruce’s Tabasco Peppers in Vinegar. The newly acquired brands will operate under the company name The Original Louisiana Hot Sauce Co. 

According to Linda Owens, president, Southeastern Mills, Inc., “This strategic acquisition adds yet another strong brand to the growing Southeastern Mills family.  Hot sauces and bold flavors are rapidly growing in popularity, and the Original Louisiana hot sauce products have helped drive that growth. We’re excited about this addition, as it strengthens our retail portfolio and gives us more products to sell to our foodservice and industrial customers.” 

“We are happy with how this acquisition unfolded,” said J.S. “Si” Brown III, president and CEO, Bruce Foods. “Southeastern Mills is a family business that shares our values and vision. They will be good stewards of the hot sauce business we’ve built over the past seven decades.” 

Southeastern Mills is a fourth-generation, professionally managed food company headquartered in Rome, Ga. Southeastern Mills operates in three segments of the food industry: industrial, foodservice and branded consumer. In the branded consumer segment, the company’s brands include Better than Bouillon food bases; Shore Lunch soups and breadings; Southeastern Mills gravy, baking and seasoning mixes; Crockery Gourmet seasoning mixes; and Better than Gravy gravy mixes. The company operates four manufacturing facilities in Georgia and California.