Meet Zyde’ceaux Joe’s Cajun Products: Seasoning Company and Food Enthusiast

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zyde’ceaux Joe’s Cajun Products and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zyde’ceaux Joe’s Cajun Products, what do you attribute your success to?
Zyde’ceaux Joe’s Cajun Products has succeeded through adaptability. Zyde’ceaux Joe’s, like all small businesses, had an interesting 2020. We had to adapt to the changes in our current world, just like every business with a growing customer base and products that are sold regionally in stores and to the world’s marketplace online. We planned to introduce our Gourmet Fish Fry to more than 30,000 potential customers in a Catfish Festival in Belzoni, Mississippi, but adapted our scope once the event was canceled this past April. By May, we introduced our new colorful label for our 16 ounce multi-purpose Gourmet Fish Fry. These changes during the Spring only continued during a busy summer for our brand. In June we were scheduled to attend the Zeta Phi Beta Boule in our nation’s capital, where more than three hundred thousand people gather over a fortnight. We were scheduled to attend this event as vendors and open ourselves up to a brand new region and customer base of consumers of fresh and saltwater fish, blue crab, and other seafood in surrounding markets. We decided that we would be safest remaining in our region and working to expand our presence in the supermarkets and grocery stores within it. By early July of 2020, we released our all purpose seasoning named after our hometown, Winnfield, Louisiana. Our Winnfield Cajun Dust was well received by our customers at the First Mondays Trade Days in Canton, TX. The markets and stores we were already in ordered a case to start, sold out within the first few days, and quickly had to order multiple pallets of it. We introduced the Winnfield Cajun Dust to the Beaumont, TX, Houston, TX, and Lake Charles, LA markets, and it quickly became a customer favorite. Adaptability allowed us to bypass the frustration of being able to reach more people than our brand ever had over a three month period, to still grow our brand and to offer our newest seasoning to our regional and online customer base and our new Cajun Family. Adaptability has been and remains an important factor behind our success. From the start of Zyde’ceaux Joe’s Cajun Products until now, we have had to market ourselves through daily Facebook and Instagram posts to inform our customers about our Gourmet Fish Fry and Winnfield Cajun Dust, recipe ideas, and the new stores in which our products are being sold in. We haven’t been able to do our in store product promotions as frequently, but we have utilized our Social Media to get the word out in new stores and markets. Social media, particularly Facebook and Instagram, are our best and most budget friendly marketing tools. We’ve added Insta Stories to our outreach and are seeing an increase in followers and overall brand interest. Our new website has also launched and has been well received by our customer base and goes along with our adapting to serve our markets better. Zyde’ceaux Joe’s Cajun Products has and will continue to ADAPT to the necessities and unpredictabilities of our ever changing business world.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We set ourselves apart by networking with customers we meet in stores and at vendor events. When they are open to trying a sample and providing us with immediate feedback, we take note of their valid critiques and work to improve our presentation and delivery of our products. Customers who purchase a bottle of our fish fry or all purpose seasoning, do so because of the bold taste of each and are often surprised to learn that our all purpose seasoning is free of MSG and Gluten, is low sodium, and contains pink Himalayan sea salt. Zyde’ceaux Joe’s started selling fish fry in a resealable plastic bag and now our two products are sold in a 16 ounce plastic shaker bottle and an eight ounce shaker can respectively. In order to improve our service and presentation, we met with a variety of manufacturers to see if they could produce and bottle our product. Upon finding the manufacturer that worked best with us, we placed orders based on customer demand, store orders, and vendor opportunities. This process was not easy, but necessary due to the changes in the environment, customer and store demand, and logistics. We have learned that there self sacrifice is necessary in order for a business to improve. As a team, we listen to one another’s points of view and once a decision is made, it’s all about pleasing our customers. These conversations are always had with our customers in mind. Without loyalty to our customer base, our business doesn’t grow, but positive customer experiences lead to the growth of that customer base and we’ve seen that first hand. Positive customer experiences with us and our products lead them to share these experiences with other customers seeking amazing gourmet seasonings. Zyde’ceaux Joe’s derived from our grandmother’s favorite genre of music, Zydeco. She would usually play this while frying fish and fixing sides in the backyard and allowing the neighborhood to come and partake in some great food. Any “Average Joe” was welcome as long as they brought an appetite. Cajun cooking to her meant that the food was bold with an array of spices and flavorful. So when we do anything as Zyde’ceaux Joe’s Cajun Products, we do it the Cajun way.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The Southwest Dallas County has an array of amazing eateries. For breakfast, we would start at Mister James in Cedar Hill. Their Fish and Grits, pancakes, sausage, and scrambled eggs, or the Chicken and Waffles would cause a repeat trip later that week. Their lunch menu is classic just in case one gets there later. Duncanville has a crown jewel in CityView Tacos. They’re open 24 hours a day and have amazing tacos and burritos for every meal. It’s So Vegan is a change of pace restaurant, when you want an amazing introduction to vegan cuisine. Located in Grand Prairie, their V-Luxe Nachos will open up your palate to an unparalleled experience, in case there’s any apprehension. For a taste of Louisiana in Texas, complete with a vibrant atmosphere, WhoDaq Daiquiris in Grand Prairie offers fried seafood and chicken baskets, more than 10 different Po-Boys, and more than 20 daiquiris of various sizes to choose from. Dessert in Trinity Grove at Cake Bar will allow us to end the day of eating Hummingbird, Neapolitan, Strawberry, Chocolate, or even Pineapple Upsidedown Cake. I guarantee visitors can’t just purchase one piece of cake and walk out happy. We only named five of their 15 cake offerings.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

Website: www.zjcajun.com
Instagram: @ZJCajunFry
Linkedin: Zyde’ceaux Joe’s Cajun Products
Twitter: @ZJCajunFry
Facebook: @ZJCajunFry
Youtube: ZJ Cajun Fry