Big company, small town: McIlhenny Co., Avery Island, Louisiana

This post is part of our Big Company, Small Town series, featuring large companies and the small towns in which they are headquartered.

In a remote section of Louisiana, nearly 140 miles west of New Orleans, lies the land of Tabasco. Avery Island is home to McIlhenny Co., the family owned and operated makers of Tabasco since 1868. The island is home to only 160 residents, mainly McIlhenny workers, as well as the McIlhenny family. Paul McIlhenny, the current president, is the sixth McIlhenny to continue the Tabasco legacy of its founder, Edmund McIlhenny.

McIlhenny Co. is a leader in hot sauce products, labeled in 22 languages and dialects, and is sold in more than 160 nations. According to Jeffrey Rothfeder, author of McIlhenny's Gold: How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire, the private company earns nearly $250 million in annual revenues. In addition to Tabasco, McIlhenny also co-brands and produces various forms of products, from salsas and Tabasco lollipops to cookbooks and clothing. They even make a 1-gallon glass jug of Tabasco for all of those who can't get enough of the hot sauce. This spicy condiment can be found in millions of restaurants around the globe, in soldiers' rations overseas, and is proudly used in my kitchen.

Two of the three main ingredients of Tabasco -- Avery Island salt and Capsicum frutescens peppers -- are found on the island. The pepper sauce is still made practically the same way it was 140 years ago, except the aging process has been extended to three years, not 60 days.