Conrad Rice Mill Inc & Konriko Company Store

09/04/2026

First things first...This is Labor Day Weekend with Labor Day falling on Monday the 7th of September.
As a result of this holiday WE WILL BE CLOSED MONDAY SEPTEMBER 7TH, BOTH THE KONRIKO CO STORE AND THE MILL,ONLY!!
We will be open on this Saturday the 5th and Tuesday the 8th, business as normal, with Cuban and BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches being made on Wednesday the 9th.
OK got that taken care of.
My post, today, is a simple one...be careful.....a lot of us will be on the highway squeezing in one last long weekend to celebrate the end of Summer, so be extra careful if you are out and about, traveling this week.
Also, YES!! College Football kicks off this weekend, finally. This is a great time of the year, football wise, with College and then the NFL cranking up to entertain us as a nation.
We pull for quite a variety of teams in our family, as we are spread out and follow teams from N. Carolina to Texas. The phone and text lines will be running overtime as we talk trash among ourselves about our favorite teams....I really look forward to this and all the interaction among the people, who I hold most dear.
We got a good bit of rain this past week which was much needed, but I understand E. Texas and surrounding areas are still very dry. Normally, this is the time of year we are fairly dry , unless a hurricane or tropical storm visits us.
Our sugar cane farmers are busy planting and getting ready for the harvest. Our Rice Farmers are in the fields combining the rice crop and drying it down to around 12% moisture, where the crop will be able to be stored without any problems.
Busy time of the year for Agriculture.
If you have an interest in Agriculture and Rice , come visit us and let us show you America's Oldest Operating Rice Mill. We have been milling and packing rice and spices for 114 years now....and still learning. We are located at 309 Ann St here in New Iberia, LA. Tours are from 9am to 5pm, Monday thru Saturday, year round.
The whole tour takes about 40 minutes but add some time to that to browse our KONRIKO Co Store, sample the many KONRIKO brand products we have laid out for you and to just shoot the breeze with us a bit. We love to learn about where you are from, too.
Hope you have a great Labor Day weekend, stay safe, drive carefully and eat lots of KONRIKO brand Products.

09/03/2026

The last couple of days one of our seasoning can seamers decided to take a vacation.
It is an old machine, nothing electronic about it, at all. It has 5 adjustments that can be made to tweak it. It would run pretty good for several hours and then, somehow, get out of adjustment.
The production crew we have working on it will get to the bottom of the problem, just frustrating, but to be expected when you operate machinery and old machinery, at that.
By the hardest we got our orders done and shipped. Now we will be able to relax on Labor Day, as we are caught up until the week of September 14.
We got our electric bill for the KONRIKO Co Store this week and just about fainted. It was huge !! Not sure how any family can hope to stay ahead of their bills when the cost of energy is so high. We need some help on this major issue and the solution is in Washington D.C..
Made and sold most of our Cuban and BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches yesterday. We really appreciate your support of these sandwiches. We do have a few left in our KONRIKO Store Freezer just waiting for you. We are open from 9am to 5pm Monday-Saturday, year round.
The KONRIKO Store is our starting point for our tours of our old Rice Mill, located at 309 Ann St here in New Iberia, La.
We will be closed this coming Monday, Labor Day, the 7th of September. Our Employees need a break and so do my Wife and I.
We received a fair amount of rain from the tropical storm that skirted along the Gulf Coast shore line earlier this week.
We needed the rain and it lowered the temperature a bit. Not aware of any local damage from the storm as we didn't get much wind, at all.
Come pay us a visit and let us show you around our Operation. We hope when you go shopping in your favorite grocery store and see some of our KONRIKO brand products you will think kindly of us and pick up a can or two of your favorite seasoning or our cool burlap bag of Wild Pecan rice.
Hope to see you soon here at America's Oldest Operating Rice Mill.

09/02/2026

Since we moved to town, ( New Iberia) a couple of years ago I have started noticing things about the town that I never paid attention to before.
New Iberia, LA is an old town having been settled by the Spanish back in the 1700's. New Iberia celebrates it's Spanish heritage each year with a festival, ( we do festivals here in Louisiana on a grand scale).
As a result the down town of New Iberia is a mix of old " New Orleans" like buildings interspersed with 1920-1930's architecture on the retail store fronts along Main St and St. Peter St.
My journey to work each morning has me crossing the Bayou Teche on Bridge St and turning left on to Burke St, by the new Bait's Motel, formerly a shoe and boot repair place.
I turn right on to Serret Alley, which crosses Main St and then left onto St. Peter St to the old KONRIKO Rice Mill.
Maybe it is the early morning hours getting to my fertile mind, but as I make the trip each morning I can almost see the streets full of horses and horse drawn carriages going about their normal, everyday business.
I think it is a mixture of the old buildings, huge life oak trees draped across the streets, the hot humid air and the lights shinning off the twin peaks on the St. John Catholic Church. Somehow all of this, for a brief few moments, transports me to another time and place.
I love New Iberia. It has some problems like all small town in the USA, but we prefer to see the positive things about our home town, and there are many.
By the time I reach Ann St and the Rice Mill I am back in modern times starting to worry about how we are going to get some orders out and how to pay the ever increasing Utility bills....life goes on, but with a smile, can do attitude and the lingering smell of a good roux simmering in someone's kitchen. Oh, how I love South Louisiana.
We are stressing today to get a few orders done. I interrupted the Production crew to try a new product we are working for, so I take the blame for less production than normal. We will get it done today, no doubt.
By noon today I will have some hot and ready to eat Cuban and BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches made. Give us a call at 337.364.7242 to reserve one or two, as we sometimes run out early.
Had a great group of Home School kids and their parents from the West Baton Rouge and Addis area yesterday. Really enjoyed meeting all of them, super nice group !!
Tours are on going out of the KONRIKO Co Store of our historic old rice mill. Come take the tour as we give it year round from 9am to 5pm Monday-Saturday.
We hope to see you soon....keep looking for our KONRIKO brand products, it helps keep the lights on !!

09/01/2026

As I write this a tropical wave or storm is developing about 30 miles south of our old rice mill, out in the Gulf.
We are not expecting much in the way of wind but should get a good amount of rain, which is needed, as we have been unusually dry.
The sugar cane harvest will be starting in the next few weeks, so I hope the wind doesn't blow too much, as that will lay the cane down in the fields, making it harder for the farmers to harvest.
Sugar Cane harvest time is really something to see and experience.
The rural part of the local Parishes become beehives of activity.
Tractors will be running around everywhere, pulling cane carts to the sugar mills, combines will be working their way through the thousands of acres of sugar cane that dominates the local landscape.
As a motorist the harvest has become a little better. There are not as many cane carts on the road. More and more cane is being hauled to the Mills via 18 wheeler trucks, so there is much less mud and sugar cane debris on the roads.
What I've noticed is there are a lot less folks involved in the harvest than there were in my youth. Much of the harvest is done mechanically with much less hand work or intense labor needed.
Some folks see the harvest as a PIA, I see it as a much needed economic addition to our local economy. No matter your point of view, it is a sweet time of the year, pun intended.
Here at America's Oldest Operating Rice Mill we will be blending and packing a variety of seasoning and rice items this week.
Our production crew is not yet aware, but I am making up a working sample of a new product I am working on. This will be a taste test with no wrong answers. Our employees are the first to try our new product ideas and sometimes the last to try one. If they think it sucks it goes into the waste bin not to reappear.
For our Cuban and BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches lovers, we will be making a fresh batch of sandwiches tomorrow, Wednesday, around noon out of our KONRIKO Co Store at 309 Ann St here in New Iberia, LA. Call ahead to reserve a sandwich, (337.364.7242).
Got a tour group coming today about 10:30 am and we are looking forward to greeting them.
If you are traveling around on this rainy day, stop in and pay us a visit. The coffee is fresh and hot and free as are our many KONRIKO brand samples we have prepared for you.
Hope to see you soon here at our historic old Rice Mill.

08/31/2026

I hope you had a great weekend. My Wife was with her two sisters part of the weekend, so I had big plans for the night she was out of town. I have to admit my plans came to fruition just as I planned.
My Black Lab, Daisy and I had a big old time and she was in her kennel and I was sound a sleep by 8:30 p.m.....we are definitely party animals...not !
We are working on a new KONRIKO brand product to add to our product list.
To make a new item takes a bit of time and a lot of leg work.
First we have to come up with an idea for a product that is unique, has fairly broad based appeal and one that we can make without having to reinvent the wheel.
Saturday and Sunday we worked on the basic formula for the new item and after 6 attempts we think we have a developed a working product that we can test with our employees.
Once we get the folks who work here involved and get their thoughts on the new item, we will move on to packaging and searching out one or two ingredients that we do not currently stock.
I would love to have this item ready for introduction in January, 2027, but that maybe a little optimistic. We will see.
Will clue you in on the new item after we test it on our employees and a few hundred of our Visitors to the Mill and our Store. Stay tuned.
Also watched a TV show on a 5 star hotel in London and it's operation. They have over 500 employees and frankly, just watching the show was exhausting. How they coordinate everything they do is amazing. I was also blown away by the room rates they charge. A one bedroom suite rented for $1000.00 a night. I don't know anyone who has that kind of money to spend on a hotel room. The Holiday Inn never looked so good !!
What was so amazing to me was how many revenue sources they had, from multiple restaurants, bars, wedding venues and on and on. Very impressive. Makes our little Rice and Spice operation seem very small, which we are, but also made me love it that much more, as it is so very straight forward compared to a mega 5 star hotel operation.
I just put the pork roast in the oven for the Cuban and BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches we will make and sell this week. Looks like Wednesday, around noon , will be the making and selling time this week. We, of course, have a good selection of fresh Frozen sandwiches in our KONRIKO Co Store freezer, too.
Will be making another order for our BOGO promotion with Publix Supermarkets on Tuesday and a nice order for our Amazon distributor. We have our week's work cut out for us and we like that. Also, just got one of our first repeat orders on the new burlap 7oz Wild Pecan packaging from our wholesaler in Baton Rouge who supplies many of the best independent stores in Louisiana. That order validated our new package and that makes us very happy.
Please come visit us, let us show you our Operation. We are open for tours from Monday thru Saturday, 9am to 5pm, year round. We would love to meet you and talk about rice and spices, two of our favorite subjects.
Hope to see you soon !!

08/28/2026

Yesterday I was lamenting our biggest Distributor not picking up a large order for an event we have scheduled with a major supermarket chain in Florida.
Well, the truck showed up yesterday, a day late. I asked the driver why he was so late and he informed me the distribution center he works out of delayed him 10 hours from his normal departure time. Why, I asked, the long delay? He had no idea, he just knew he got paid even if he was sitting in his truck waiting for his load to be loaded or not. Ok, I get that.
But what I don't get is the inefficiency of the bigger a company seems to get the more glitches and delays, i.e. inefficient, they seem to get.
Does bigger mean more mistakes? That doesn't seem right to me.
I know the Gov't works on that theory, bigger is not better, IMHO.
The distributor is a large operation covering the who USA, so there are lots of people and systems involved, so more chance to mess up is out there.
We have another distributor who is local, only covers the southern half of Louisiana. They are on top of their game. Never miss an appointment time, pay like clock work, just run a good tight operation.
We need both types of distributors, the big and small but, no doubt, the smaller ones are easier to work with and to solve problems with, if they arise.
I'm trying to get my head around this big vs small thing. I've watched the local banks disappear through mergers and acquisitions. I've watched a lot of independent retailers get pushed out by large out of state retailers. There is a mind set in this Country that we are the biggest and best in the World, and I don't disagree with that thought.
But just maybe, what makes us so great, even though we are big, is when it is all said and done, we are still run on a small, local level by our fellow citizens who still answer directly to us, on an individual basis.
It is complicated and frankly, it gives my group of old guys something to talk about when we get together for coffee at the local meeting place. If only the world would listen to all of us old grey headed fellows, as we have answers for all the problems of the world.
One problem I know I can handle is getting our KONRIKO brand products out to you and your favorite grocery store. Thanks to you we are still here after 114 years. Yes, I am still trying to figure it all out but I don't really think I will get there cause as soon as one problem is solved another arises. I think it is called life and I still love the whole confusing process.
This past Wednesday we built our Cuban and BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich inventory in the KONRIKO Co Store Freezer back up.
Will make more sandwiches this coming Wednesday as now that school is in session more folks are keeping a few of our sandwiches in the freezer ready to feed those hungry young ones.
Stop in anytime Monday -Saturday from 9am to 5pm and pickup a sandwich or two.
If you want to take a tour we still do that too, out of our KONRIKO Co Store at 309 Ann ST here in New Iberia, LA.
Come pay us a visit and between us we can solve all the world's problems or at least we can enjoy a great cup of coffee and swap a few tales.
Hope to see you soon.

08/27/2026

We have been fortunate to sell one of the premiere grocery chains in America, that being the Publix supermarkets, headquartered in Lakeland, FL.
We recently committed to a BOGO promotion with Publix on our KONRIKO brand Greek Seasoning, one of our best selling seasonings, that is MSG free, gluten free, non gmo, etc. Excellent product.
Publix has over 1500 stores so this is a big deal for us. We received their initial order and quickly packed it and had it ready for pickup yesterday, the 26th of August, on our Distributor's truck. The truck didn't show up. Now what?
I contacted the dispatcher for the Distributor to see what the problem is and when they will reschedule pickup....still waiting to hear from them. Frustration abounds on my end.
These are the things that make running a small business tough, the unexpected, out of the blue problems that crop up and you have to figure it out on the fly. We also have a lot of money tied up in the order and until it gets picked up the clock will not start on our getting paid. Cash flow problems here we come.
OK, I have vented and am ready to face the problems of the day, whatever they maybe.
Yesterday we made and sold our Cuban and BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches out of our KONRIKO Co Store at 309 Ann St here in New Iberia. We have restocked our KONRIKO freezer and have a good inventory for you to come pickup a few sandwiches. We are open from 9am to 5pm.
Our production crew overhauled the seasoning can seamers on Tuesday and I have never seen the seamers make such a good smooth seal before, excellent job.
We have also gotten really good at filling and sewing the 7oz Wild Pecan rice bags, which is a new thing for us. We are very proud of our new burlap package and our crew does an excellent job of sewing the bags closed, not an easy task.
Don't forget our tours of the old rice mill are ongoing from Monday-Saturday, 9am to 5pm. We would love to show you our Operation and share with you some of our recipes for cooking our Wild Pecan rice, or ways to use our excellent Bay Island Secret Sauce, one of best selling 'secret" products.
Hope to see you soon....the store is nice and cool and the coffee is fresh and hot, we just need you to share it all with.

08/26/2026

It is no news flash that it is hot and humid right now, but it usually is in August/September.
I also know the kids are back in school now, which is way earlier than we use to start school.
If I combine the two, hot, humid weather with hot, sweaty kids in school, I come up with Air Conditioned schools, something I never had as a student or a teacher back in the 1970's.
From what I am seeing just about all, if not all, the classrooms today are air conditioned.
I also don't remember the class rooms of my youth being unbearably hot. Maybe I have selective memory, but the old schools I attended had high ceilings, big windows and transom windows that help circulate the air.
When I started teaching school I was teaching in the same type of classrooms that I was taught in. Warm but bearable.
The first air conditioned class rooms I ever was in was at USL in the Business School class rooms, in the late "60"s.
Was it not so hot because that was all we knew, i. e., you don't miss what you never had? I think that is a big part of the equation.
Today we go from our Air Conditioned house, to the A/C in the car, to our A/C work area, if we work inside.
I see the folks who work outside all the time and they don't seem to be fainting at the hot weather. I guess they have gotten use to it. But I also see the local farmers driving in their air conditioned tractors, so maybe those that only work in the heat are just tougher, cause they need to be.
Here at our old rice mill there was never an air conditioning unit installed anywhere until about 1980. Now all our major production areas have air conditioning and the areas that do not, like in the Mill, are only operated early in the morning or on cooler days, if possible.
Frankly, I love our air conditioned life style. As a kid we only had an attic fan that sucked in copious amounts of air. It made the curtains flutter all night, kept us sleeping under a sheet cause it was cool and also kept the whole house dusty from the air it blew into the old home place.
I'll take the A/C unit over the attic fan any day!!
Today, when you come to get your Cuban or BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich at the KONRIKO Co Store at 309 Ann st, around noon, you will see us smiling, cause the A/C unit is working great and we are not out in the sun broiling.
By the way, give us a call at 337.364.7242 if you want to reserve a sandwich today.
Tours are on going here at our historic old rice mill, from 9am to 5pm Monday-Saturday.
Also, please keep an eye out for our KONRIKO brand products which I hope you will support, if possible...we would certainly appreciate it ....big time.
Also a word to Dolly Parton's family in their time of loss. She was a national treasure, IMHO, and will be missed.

Hope to see you soon !!

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08/25/2026

I was looking over our in-house orders this morning and seeing what we needed to order to keep the products flowing out of here.
One of the glaring things staring at me was how different our order patterns are now vs just a few years ago.
Here in Louisiana we have lost a significant number of customers. While new ones have come along we have not made up the difference in what we have lost.
I'm talking about losing the New Orleans divisions of the A&P grocery chain, the Winn Dixie New Orleans divisions, Schwagman's ( spelling?) which was 1/3 of the N.O. market and one of our main distributors in New Orleans who served the above chains.
We have seen this pattern repeated all over the USA.
Those chains that have survived have gotten pretty tough to work with, they are demanding more from us as they acquire greater market share. I don't blame them for being tougher, I would, most likely, do the same.
In order to stay in business we have had to become more nimble, quicker to react. We have had to trim our work force and make sure we get the most production possible for each dollar we spend.
We still have some debt that will take another 6 years to get through and that is a drag on our Operation, too.
There are several things we can do to make our position more sustainable. We can get more sales from our existing customers, but that takes more marketing dollars to keep our price point as low as we can get it.
We can also come out with a few new items to increase our sales. We do have some new items we are working on, but new items are slow to develop and get into production, then into the stores.
Right now we are on a program to make our KONRIKO Creole Seasoning as attractively priced as possible. We are having some luck with this new program but we need to ask you to help us by picking up a can of our seasoning at your favorite store.
We are not bashful about asking for your help on the sales of our seasoning products. They are all made from very clean ingredients, all are MSG FREE, NON GMO, Gluten Free, low in sodium and are not highly processed. The KONRIKO name carries with it a promise of a quality products made right here in South Louisiana at America's Oldest Rice and seasoning Company.
If and when you find yourself shopping please keep an eye out for our KONRIKO brand products. We can use the help and, we promise, you will not be disappointed with our products.
On the sandwich front we will be making Cuban and BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches Wednesday at noon out of our KONRIKO Co Store at 309 Ann ST here in New Iberia, La. Call ahead to reserve a sandwich, ( 337.364.7242). Our sandwich inventory is low but we will build it back up on Wednesday.
Come visit us and let us show you around our old historic rice mill. While you are here try our Wild Pecan rice we have cooked for you, The new/old burlap bags look super cool and make great gifts.
Hope to see you soon !!

08/24/2026

A couple of days ago I click on a program on our TV set, called " The Run for a Million". It was produced by Taylor Sheraton of Yellowstone fame and was about competition for a Million dollars among "reining horses".
I had never heard of reining horse competition of any kind, but it was really interesting. The horses and their owners and trainers were in serious competition, not only for the prize money but the title. Seems there are big bucks in training reining horses. Some of the horses sold for over $500,000.00 each.
After the show was over it got me thinking about my relationship with horses. I have spent a lot of time, in my life, on horse back.
Grew up with a horse that was a Christmas gift when I was 10 or 11 years old, her name was Sardine.
She was an ornery old mare that promptly took me under a clothes line and scrapped me off her back. After that initial ride we got use to each other and I road her all the way through high school.
Even delivered newspapers off her for my paper route in Bendel Gardens in Lafayette, LA.
I got bucked off a lot of horses at Jim Shoulders rodeo riding school in OK. Quite an experience.
Before I bought our old rice mill we raised cattle on Windy Hills Ranch in St. Martin Parish. Had about 100 or so mommy cows on 612 acres I had rented.
Didn't make very much money raising cattle but sure spent a lot of time on horse back, riding fence, herding cattle, etc. I really enjoyed my time in the saddle.
Now that we live in town horses are a by gone era for me. But to watch those reining horses and how well trained they were, was a thing of beauty. Maybe I'll get another horse, who knows.
One thing for sure is I will not be riding it to work, if I get one. No place in my office to keep one plus our black lab, Daisy, would not want to share her office space with a horse....don't blame her.
We are going to be packing KONRIKO Wild Pecan rice in our 7oz Burlap bags this week and repairing our seasoning can seamer. Seems a few bearings have worn out and need replacing. Not too tough a week, but next week will be a different story.
Our Cuban sandwich inventory in the KONRIKO Co Store freezer at 309 Ann ST here in New Iberia is getting low, so I will make some more sandwiches this Wednesday, around noon.
Even though it was hot over the weekend we had a pretty good turn out in our store on Saturday. We love showing our old rice mill to visitors from all over the 50 states and Europe. Come see what we have to offer. The tour takes about 40 minutes but add some time to that for sampling our many KONRIKO brand products and just browsing around. Try a little dab of Bay Island secret sauce on our Wild Pecan rice, they go great together.
Hope to see you soon, if not on Wednesday, picking up a Cuban or BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich.
P.S.
Maybe I should put a hitching post in front the store? No, not too many visitors ever show up here on horse back.