When customers walk into the Natchitoches Picnic Company they are comforted by the delightful smell of fresh pie being pulled out of the oven. Smiles cross the faces of both employees and customers as they enjoy the sweet exchange.
Previously located on 304 South Drive, the Natchitoches Picnic Company is a deli, market and catering business that has just reopened after moving to its new location on 105 Church Street. The Natchitoches Picnic Company is owned and run by Laurie Berry and her friendly staff.
Berry’s business fills the missing palette of Natchitoches.
“There’s a niche here in Natchitoches. There’s lots of fast food restaurants, but everything is fried or burgers, so where can we pick up a salad or just a fresh made soup that’s not frozen from a bag,” she said. “We make all our soups from scratch, fresh-made salads and chicken salad which we had no idea would be our best-seller,” Berry said.
From charcuterie boards to grab-and-go items, the Natchitoches Picnic Company adds to the diversity of food in town.
“Customers love it,” Berry said. “We’re the only ones in town who offer Boar’s Head brand meats and cheeses and we were the first place in town to have the type of menu where everything is made in-house.”
The clientele of the Natchitoches Picnic Company expressed how the shop tends to them.
“The food is really good, the food is always fresh,” Fraser Snowden, one of Berry’s customers and former philosophy professor at the Northwestern State University of Louisiana’s Scholars College, said.
Dian Snowden, Natchitoches Picnic Company enthusiast and wife of Fraser Snowden also agreed with him. “I’m from New Orleans and this is really good food,” she said. “They always go the extra mile! The people are really nice and that makes a difference.”
Bringing unique elements to businesses sometimes means catering specifically to customers, this is a tactic that Berry recognizes.
“One of the goals of the company is to meet dietary needs; Customers like the Snowden’s will ask for specific soups to be low sodium, vegetarian or whatever their specific dietary needs are, and we will make that for them,” Berry said.
Berry goes out of her way to interact with her customers, personalizing their experiences and allowing for a welcoming environment within her business. Throughout the process of beginning her business, moving locations and reopening, customers have always been a priority for Berry.
“We have an email list of about 650 customers; most of them are here in Natchitoches,” Berry explained, “When I sent out the email saying, ‘okay, we’re finally ready–come see us!’, their response was just phenomenal. Quite a few of them just replied right away saying, ‘We’re so excited–I’ll be in later in the week.’”
The Natchitoches Picnic Company is open Monday through Friday from 10 a .m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information visit their website here.
