Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Howard, Tony Lewis.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Tony, Tony. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As Louisiana natives, we were raised and inspired by our grandmother, who is now deceased. She was a true cajun pioneer who lived off the land and loved to cook huge meals. While preparing delicious meals outdoors (on the back porch), she would always let all the kids come and spectate while the grown folks were in a separate area of the yard partying. Grandmother would always say, “when cooking, don’t make it bland, give it some flavor, better yet give it some Zydeco.” Zydeco meaning a different array of instruments blended together while making a wonderful blend of cajun sounds. We never knew what spices she would put in; all we knew was that it had flavor and it would have you eating and dancing all night. She would feed any random Joe and considered them family. No matter what race, religion, or sexual preference her exact words were, “treat people right and don’t judge anyone because one day you will be judged.” Our Grandmother’s core values of love and food stuck with us throughout our lives.
When she passed away, the tradition of families getting together slowly started to die off along with most of the people who lived there in the neighborhood. All of our grandmother’s children started moving to Texas one by one and never kept the tradition going. One day Tony Lewis and myself Tony Howard (first cousins) were talking and reminiscing of the old days when suddenly a light bulb went off simultaneously. We wanted to know how we could recreate our grandmother’s legacy by bringing families together again, sharing her secret recipes, and her core Louisiana values while sharing them throughout the regions. We racked our brains trying to figure out a brand name that would represent our grandmother’s legacy while the whole time it was staring us right in the face: Zyde’ceaux (pronounced zydeco) Joe’s – She loved zydeco music and she would feed any Joe.
Now that we figured out the brand name, we knew that the next few tasks were going to be an uphill battle. Imagine trying to convince 5 strong, black “tell it like it is” women (Our grandmother’s daughters) our concept while trying to deliver replicas of her secrets since she took those recipes to her grave with her. The countless nights, weeks, months, years of trying to recreate our grandmother’s signature (fish, chicken, shrimp, fries, desserts, etc.) were nearly impossible, but one day, I called Tony Lewis and told him that I think we got it! Tony said the sisters are going to be the real test. Already feeling almost defeated and wanting to give up, we decided to give it a shot. While we patiently waited, the sisters tasted the plethora of dishes and proclaimed, “that’s it!!!!” The sisters shouted with joy and then we started on our journey. Having little to no money and not wanting to give banks the opportunity of taking the little bit we did have, we started small. Our vision was to take the Master P. approach “start small and then go big”. So we went to a local grocery store, purchased some Ziploc sandwich bags, and with no insurance, no product labels and no manufacturing, we just started bagging up the product.
The smell from all the spices was so intense; you could smell it through the bag! While providing some samples and selling a few, we did not understand why people weren’t knocking down the doors wanting this breading. One of my best friends was going to Atlanta for three days on business and wanted to know if I wanted to travel along with him. I replied yes, but only if I could take a few bags of breading. Tony and I bagged up 50 bags and started out. I got to Atlanta and completely sold out the first day I arrived. I was approached by an owner of 13 restaurants who asked if I could deliver in bulk. If so, the deal had to be done under one condition: that we didn’t market to any other person in the State of Georgia. I was so stoked, but also realistic, so I replied, “Sir I’m not at that status yet. I’m just starting out and won’t be able to fulfill your demands.” Feeling heartbroken, we knew that we had some serious work to do. Today our breading has been endorsed by the largest fishing magazine in the state of Texas, is manufactured in a facility and is being sold in 11 stores and one restaurant across three states (Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas). As the business demand grew with new grocers and customers, Tony Lewis and I had to bring in additional support to optimize each aspect of the business operations. This would include delegating areas of responsibility within business operations; Tony H. (CEO), Tony L. (COO), Jerome W. (Director of Marketing), Rodney L. (Director of Sales), and Alkmal S. (Director of Logistics/Supply Chain).
Contact Info:
- Website: www.zjcajunfry.com
- Phone: 4696126660
- Email: Zydeceauxjoes@gmail.com
- Instagram: ZydeceauxJoesCajunFry
- Facebook: @zjcajunfry
- Twitter: @zjcajunfry
- Other: SnapChat: Zyde’ceaux Joe’s Cajun Fry
Image Credit:
Shondaross Photography
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