When a Louisiana food brand wants to start selling beyond state lines, their first port of call is often Creole Foods. The small, family-owned distributor based in Jefferson Parish has a unique specialty: helping local food businesses scale nationally in the Amazon store. For the 20-plus brands Creole Foods supports, that means launching Amazon storefronts and managing everything from marketing to distribution with Amazon’s seller tools.
“Our main goal is to spread Louisiana’s flavors and foods all over the United States,” said Johnny Thomas, Creole Foods’ Chief Marketing Officer.
Founded in 2020 by Kevin Bordes and his wife Jennifer, Creole Foods has grown from an empty warehouse into two facilities spanning nearly 70,000 square feet and staffed by 25 employees. The company now manages more than 4,500 Amazon listings across 2,000 products, ranging from turducken and boudin sausages to jambalaya mixes, seafood boils, and even frozen alligator.
“We warehouse their products, handle their Amazon listings—everything they need to succeed in the Amazon store,” said Bordes.
To maximize visibility, Creole Foods relies on Amazon A+ Premium Content, which allows them to add richer visuals and comparison modules to listings, while packing more than 12,000 backend keywords into each product. Since adopting Premium A+, sales have jumped an average of 30–40% across their catalog.
“It expands revenue tremendously,” said Thomas.
The company also uses Amazon Transparency to guarantee authenticity. Each product carries a scannable code that lets Amazon customers confirm its source.
“Amazon Transparency is a major key to our success,” said Bordes. “It verifies who’s selling, ensures consistency, and allows us to advertise confidently.”
To reduce the risk of Amazon customers encountering an “out of stock” message, Creole Foods employs a hybrid distribution strategy, shipping frozen items like sausages and turducken directly from their warehouse with Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM), while relying on Amazon to store, pick, pack and ship shelf-stable products with Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).
With thousands of listings to manage, Creole Foods leans on Amazon’s AI-powered Enhance MyListing tool to streamline updates, optimize titles, and test keywords.
“With the amount of listings we have, Amazon’s AI tools have absolutely helped us streamline the process of making updates. It’s absolutely more effective,” said Thomas.
That efficiency allows Creole Foods to focus on what matters most: connecting people to the flavors of Louisiana. For many displaced by hurricanes or living far from the state, ordering a bag of boudin or a jar of gumbo base is a way to reconnect with home.
“During Katrina, so many people left and couldn’t find their favorite products in local stores,” said Thomas. “Now, they can get them with a few clicks on Amazon.”
As the business continues to expand—shipping one to three full truckloads of Louisiana specialties to Amazon warehouses each week—its mission remains clear: ensuring that Louisiana’s unique flavors are never out of reach.
“We’re proud of what we’ve built,” said Bordes. “From where we started to where we are now, it’s incredible to see how Amazon has helped us grow and share Louisiana’s culture with the rest of the country.”