A look at Bernard’s Seafood’s recent expansion

COTTONPORT, La. (KALB) - Bernard’s has served Avoyelles Parish since 1983 but the opening of its 43,000-square-foot facility has really catapulted Bernard’s to the top of the crawfish industry.

From harvest to shipping, Bernard’s is now completely self-sufficient, doing all operations in its new state-of-the-art facility. Owner and President James Bernard said the company ships crawfish all over the U.S., but he owes much of Bernard’s success to the local community.

“I have been very thankful,” said Bernard. “The community, the parish and the state are what made J. Bernard’s Seafood. I mean without customers, you are going to fail.”

It is estimated that Bernard’s ships close to 3 million pounds of crawdads every season, but that is not all. Bernard’s also specializes in shrimp, oysters and alligator meat. And, Bernard said the location of the business also helps the local agriculture market.

“The farmers actually do not have to drive far to sell their product,” said Bernard. “As far as the market, we follow the market in the crawfish industry, and we pay a fair price.”

Bernard’s Seafood is holding its official ribbon cutting on March 24.

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