Paul Christiansen
The Conrad Rice Mill
Louisiana is famous for its food and its cocktails, for its coffees and spices. But where do all these products begin? We (writer-photographer duo Kristy and Paul Christiansen) are on a mission to discover the origins of some of our most famous and unique locally-made products through the Country Roads series, “Made in Louisiana”. Read our first "Made in Louisiana" article here.
After nearly fifty years in the business, Mike Davis knows a thing or two about rice. He and his wife, Sandy, former schoolteachers who once owned a cattle ranch, became rice millers in February 1975 when they bought Conrad Rice Mill in New Iberia.
“At the time I was the youngest rice miller in the United States,” said Davis. “Now I’m the oldest.” The distinction is greater than that, though, since Conrad Rice Mill is the country’s oldest working rice mill.
The tin-covered building, which commands an obscure corner a few blocks from New Iberia’s picturesque main street, dates back to the early 1900s and a German rice farmer named P.A. Conrad. Conrad grew his own rice, cut it by hand, and then would let it dry on the levee before hauling it to the mill in New Orleans. It would take him five days by horse and buggy or three by steamer up the Bayou Teche to reach the Crescent City. Growing tired of his commute, he built Conrad Rice Mill in 1912. Over time, his business grew, and he began buying grain from other farmers and selling the rice in smaller bags. In the 1950s, he launched the brand name Konriko Rice, an acronym for Con(rad) Ri(ce) Co(mpany). The German in him changed the C’s to K’s.
After retiring, Conrad’s sons inherited the business and ran it until their eighties, finally selling in 1975 to Davis. At that time, only three New Iberia grocery stores still sold Konriko white rice, and the mill hadn’t operated in two years. Within ten days, Davis powered up the machines and had the milling operation up and running again. Since then, his business model has evolved. He’s expanded operations across the country and “sells a little bit everywhere, and not much anywhere.” “We slowly weaned away from white rice,” said Conrad, who now sells his Konriko’s Wild Pecan Rice—a highly specialized, aromatic, long grain, brown rice of the Della variety (also known as popcorn rice), that gives off an aroma like roasted nuts.
Paul Christiansen
Mike Davis, when he bought the country's oldest working rice mill in 1975, was the youngest rice miller in the United States. Still running the mill all these years later, he is now the oldest.
“I’m not a commodity man,” he said. “We’re moving toward value-added items, and we’ve branched out to hold our own. We’re working on the core items that sell the best.”
Today, Conrad buys all his grain directly from Louisiana farmers. He uses it not only for his Wild Pecan rice but also in his line of specialty seasonings, including his No Salt Creole Seasoning, his best seller Greek Seasoning, and his Hot’n’ Spicy Jalapeño All Purpose Seasoning—which he said is growing fast in the Midwest market. He also has a Gravy and Sauce Thickener and recently developed a Bay Island Secret Sauce, a flavorful sauce made from exotic peppers. All of his products are free of MSG, red or yellow dyes, and gluten.
Almost fifty thousand people visit the Konriko Company Store and tour the Conrad Rice Mill every year. After showing a twenty-minute video, a tour guide walks visitors next door to view the actual mill. Our host was Laine Romero Condra, a fast-talking Cajun who joked she got the job because she was the only one shorter than the owner’s wife.
“I just love it when I walk in here and the machines are running,” said Condra, guiding our group inside the chilly, old building. “We mill about once a week, and they never tell me when they are going to run the mill, so it’s always a surprise.”
Paul Christiansen
Konriko Rice Products
Condra stood on a platform near a scale replica of the mill, then opened the doors on the model to reveal several vials of rice on the inside. As she detailed the inner workings of the mill, she held out each vial to show us how the rice transforms through the process, beginning with the sheller/huller, which removes the outer hull from the rice.
“Whatever the sheller doesn’t take off, the paddy machine does,” said Condra, pointing to the circa-1927 German machine standing next to us. “It can process 250 pounds of rice within a minute. This is the oldest machine we have in here.” She explained that the paddy machine was originally steam operated, but it was later converted to utilize a belt.
Next, she explained, the bran layers are removed by rubbing the grains against themselves in the pearling machine. If this process is carried out all the way through, you would end up with white rice. Konriko rice retains ninety to ninety-five percent of the bran, retaining the health benefits of brown rice. However by scoring the rice, instead of leaving all of the bran layers on, Konriko produces a rice that cooks as fast as white rice. The discarded rice bran is sold for livestock feed.
Finally, any broken grains are weeded out in the grading machines, then sold to breweries and as chicken feed. Once the milling process ends, the packing begins. Konriko rice is sold in bags from seven ounces to a hundred pounds, and it’s all packed in-house by the packing machines.
After the quick tour, visitors can sample the Wild Pecan rice and purchase any of Konriko’s products at the Konriko Company Store. To entice locals to stop by, Conrad also offers Cuban sandwiches on Wednesdays and a new boudin sandwich on Tuesdays, made with a drizzle of his Bay Island Secret Sauce on French bread.
The Konriko Company Store and Conrad Rice Mill is located at 307 Ann Street in New Iberia. The store is open Monday–Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm. Tours of the mill run at 10 am, 11 am,1 pm, 2 pm, and 3 pm, and cost $5 for adults, $4 for seniors over 62, and $3 for children 3–11. conradrice.com.
