Riceland Crawfish, producer of Louisiana crawfish and alligator meat products, has broken ground on a $3 million expansion to its facility in Eunice, La. The investment consists of $2 million for a new 33,000-sq-ft facility and $1 million for new equipment to process crawfish and alligator meat.
The expansion gives Riceland the ability to provide crawfish products to major food distributors and retailers year-round. Additionally, the Riceland Crawfish’s expansion will help drive growth in local Louisiana communities by providing increased support to industries that provide bait, bags, boxes, sacks, seasoning, wire for traps, and other products necessary for crawfish processing. With the new investment, the company will retain 50 jobs and create 10 new direct jobs in Acadiana, a region of southern Louisiana settled by Acadians in the 1700s and now a center of Cajun culture.
“For 30 years we have been sharing the culture and food of Acadiana across the United States,” said Dexter Guillory, Riceland president. “The crawfish industry in Louisiana represents a $173 million gross farm value and includes 1,543 producers. Of that state total, the Acadiana region is responsible for producing approximately 84% of that total or $138 million. This represents the work of 1,232 producers and numerous processors.”