February 2012.

On February 12, Conrad Rice Mill in New Iberia, the oldest rice mill in America, turns one hundred years old. In 1981, the mill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

For a bit more than a third of its history the mill has been owned by former farmer and teacher Mike Davis.

“February will be the beginning of my 38th year,” says Davis, harkening back to when he first saw the place. “I was twenty-nine at the time. I was driving down the street one day and passed by this mill. I didn’t know it existed. The Conrad brothers happened to be there, and they had just recently decided that it was time for them to retire.”

As the old adage goes, timing is everything, and Davis soon became a mill owner.

Over the course of the century, the process by which rice is milled hasn’t changed much. But the products the mill produces with that rice have changed dramatically.

“We were nothing but white rice in the past,” notes Davis of the transition of the mill’s products over the last century, “We evolved to brown rice products.”

Today the mill is a more specialized maker of rice and spice products, under their brands Konriko and Hol Grain. Everything made is Certified Gluten Free, Certified Kosher, and certified to be made from only non-genetically modified ingredients, the only such operation in Louisiana.

And this writer’s pantry will always have on hand what Davis calls one of their signature products: Konrico Wild Pecan Brown Rice.

The week of February 12, all are invited to come celebrate the centennial at the mill located at 307 Ann Street in New Iberia.

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