Patents and Pop-Ups

Brothers Troy and Alfonzo Bolden of Cajun Nation Seasoning.

Across the Bayou State, people are taking their destiny into their own hands and pursuing entrepreneurial dreams of owning their own business. On this week’s show, we encounter a Louisiana-style cornucopia of self-starters who forged their own path to find success in the sphere of food.

We begin with Alfonzo Bolden, who, along with his brother Troy, is co-CEO of Cajun Nation Cajun Seasoning Company, based out of Lafayette. While there's no denying their food talents, Alfonzo and Troy's true genius lies in knowing just when to trademark a name – which for them, often precedes the product concept.

Seafood City's famed Al Scramuzza had a product – but needed to create a market for it.
Al shares the story of his early role in catalyzing today's crawfish craze.

Then, we visit a marketplace that acts as a local incubator for budding food entrepreneurs. We sample the goods at the Pop-Up On Tchoup – a weekly makers market that Rouses hosts on Saturdays at their Uptown New Orleans store.