Emile A. Zatarain Sr. (c. 1866–1959) was a grocer and food entrepreneur who trademarked root beer and built a business selling spices, condiments, and foods flavored in the culinary traditions of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

's Creole and

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the US state of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast states. Whi ...

cultures to the world via the brand that today is known simply as

Zatarain's Zatarain's is an American food and spice company based in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States that makes a large family of products with seasonings and spices that are part of the cultural cuisine and heritage of Louisiana and New Orlean ...

.NOLA.com
The Zatarain's history behind its new facility (with recipes)

Family

Zatarain had five surviving children, all sons. They were Edward J. Zatarain, Sr. (born 1887), who served as Zatarain's vice president; John E. Zatarain (born 1890); Milton Zatarain (born 1895); Charles C. Zatarain (born 1897), who researched family genealogy and collected his father's memoirs; and Emile A. Zatarain, Jr. (born 1902). Edward and Charles temporarily left the company to serve in the Navy and Army respectively during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Emile A Zatarain Jr., the youngest, took over the company as his father slowly retired. Charles Zatarain was the last surviving son of Emile Jr. when he died in 1986 at age 89. His great-granddaughter, Allison Zatarain, wrote a history of Emile and the family in 1993.

History

Emile A. Zatarain Sr., a merchant and entrepreneur of

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

descent, was born in 1866, it is estimated on the 1910 U.S. Census.Funding Universe
- "Zatarain's, Inc. History" He had 5 sons, all of whom followed him into his business when they all finished school. In 1886, Zatarain opened a grocery store with the first National Cash Register in Louisiana. A few months later, he bought a horse and buggy to do deliveries. The company's big success, at first, was root beer. According to great granddaughter Allison Zatarain, "Emile introduced Papoose Root Beer at 2:30 p.m. on May 7, 1889, at the Louisiana (Purchase) Exposition. The root beer was so successful, that his business grew, and grew, and grew!" Several years later, Zatarain found that it was more cost effective to sell the root beer blend as an extract.New Orleans CityBusiness
"Zatarain’s celebrates $26M expansion in Gretna" by Robin Shannon, July 23, 2015 Zatarain formed a company called Papoose Pure Food Products to manufacture the root beer and diversify into other foods and he built a factory at 925 Valmont Street, New Orleans. He began to import and pack olives, pickles and spices. On May 29, 1922, as his sons assumed more of the day-to-day operation, Zatarain reincorporated the business as E.A. Zatarain & Sons, Inc. and also did business as Zatarain's Pure Food Products. Emile A. Zatarain Jr. and his wife Ida May Bennett Zatarain eventually took over the business. Ida May created recipes for their products like

Remoulade Rémoulade (; ) is a cold sauce. Although similar to tartar sauce, it is often more yellowish, sometimes flavored with curry, and often contains chopped Pickled cucumber, pickles or piccalilli. It can also contain horseradish, paprika, Anchovies ...

Sauce and Olive Salad.

Death

Emile Antoine Zatarain Sr. died in 1959. He was 93 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zatarain, Emile Businesspeople from Louisiana 1860s births 1959 deaths