After just two years of setting its goal to partner with Rouses Markets, Parish Rice has recently inked a deal to stock all 65 supermarket locations with its diabetic friendly rice, according to this article from The Advocate.

Parish Rice is a product from second-generation rice farmer Michael Frugé that he grew from a variety of high-protein, low glycemic index-scored rice that’s been developed through the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. Though the diabetic friendly rice has made its way from fields in Eunice, Louisiana to marginal popularity in just under two years, this recent partnership between Parish Rice and Rouses Markets has been a goal since the brand’s launch. Frugé told The Advocate that he has always been quite passionate about agricultural quality and celebrating local agriculture, feeling that his values aligned with the Louisiana-grown supermarket chain.

CEO and third-generation company leader Donny Rouse said of the partnership in a statement, “this is a fantastic addition to our Eat Right with Rouses program, which makes choosing healthy easier, by identifying grocery items that have lower sodium, lower saturated fat, healthier fats, more fiber, and less sugar. Our customers who are watching their carb intake are always looking for more options, and I love that it is local.”

Parish Rice was started in 2019, and until now it’s popularity has been rising at an unexpectedly steady pace. Eunice-based farmer Michael Frugé reported that 45% of his business’s gross online sales and approximately 80% of its total grocery store sales were conducted during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Soon afterward, the demand for his diabetic friendly rice began to grow quickly and to a certain extent, unexpectedly. Michael Frugé attributes the rapid success of his brand to word-of-mouth and a particular LSU AgCenter feature that began to circulate on social media.

In speaking on the partnership with Rouses Markets, Frugé said, “this is everything I’ve ever wanted. I love knowing that you go into a grocery store and see rice on the shelf and know that we had something to do with that. Now, I can go into a grocery store and know that is my rice, know that people are going to sit down at night or during the day, and eat my rice and have the opportunity to know where it came from.”

Frugé attributes the passion behind the growing and marketing of Parish Rice to an interest in rice farming and the rice industry that has been fascinating him since he was a boy when he learned about the rice trade from his father. After college, Frugé worked for a seed company that had a focus on the rice industry before he eventually eased back into farming full-time.

During his time in the seed industry, Frugé said that had gotten the opportunity to travel internationally, and by visiting countries like Japan and Uruguay, he gained valuable perspective and insight into how different rice-growing regions of the globe produced varieties for a surgically-targeted clientele. It was in this realization and study that Frugé saw opportunities for growth in the United States rice industry, particularly in Louisiana’s growing industry.

Frugé admits that he didn’t have a clear plan on how to distinguish his vision from other growers until he partnered with fellow rice grower and friend, Blake Gerard. It was then that Frugé had become interested in a particular varietyfrom the LSU AgCenter that Gerard had begun working with, and soon a deal was struck between the Eunice and South Illinois farmers to begin growing that rice in Louisiana in 2019.

Now that Parish Rice has a partnership with Rouses Markets, Frugé looks to his other goals for his brand’s reach, such as expanding his partnership with LSU or serving his rice in K-12 schools. In speaking on the future, Frugé said, “where’s it going to go? I don’t know,” he said. “So much has happened over the past three weeks, but I’ve got some more goals in mind. There are some other things I want to go after. I don’t know where the top is but I’m going to keep pushing.”

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