Blue Runner Foods is gearing up for a new line of products inspired by the way the pandemic has transformed eating

Before the pandemic, makers of canned beans and gumbo, Blue Runner Foods, were planning to enter the frozen food market.

The new products would be marketed to consumers and delis, and would require the addition of a $2.2 million manufacturing facility at the family-owned company’s Burnside Avenue location in Gonzales.

Blue Runner has been approved by state and local officials for an industrial property tax exemption for the project, with an 80% tax exemption for five years, renewable to 10 years.

But the company put those expansion plans aside when it began studying consumer trends as Covid-19 made its way into everyday life, said Katie Bautsch, Blue Runner Foods’ vice president of operations.

Katie Bautsch, vice president of operations at Blue Runner Foods, oversees new product launches to meet changing consumer trends.

Photo by Blue Runner Food

“When Covid happened, we took a small step back and continued to study the market,” she said.

They found that 20- and 30-year-olds are increasingly turning to ready meals, particularly at the hot counter and in the deli of their neighborhood supermarkets, a trend during the pandemic.

And, according to Bautsch, “as deli and ready meals rose, so did sales of our six-pound canned goods.”

“What we’ve found is that shoppers like the shelf life of products that don’t need refrigeration,” she said, especially with the possibility of emergencies.

Instead of the original plan to add frozen foods, Blue Runner expects to offer another durable product line by the end of the year: traditional bean and gumbo products, available in 6-pound, durable and easy-open pouches, in addition to its canned food.

The new products — which will feature the same full-color designs as the Blue Runner cans — will initially be marketed to grocery store delis, as well as “express service” grocery stores such as convenience stores, Bautsch said.

The company expects to bring the product to grocery shelves for individual consumers in the future, she said.

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