As cars cross the High Rise bridge in New Orleans, the scent of coffee seeps through doors and windows — so pungent it can sometimes smell as if the beans are roasting in the backseat.
That aroma has drifted from the nearby plant on Chef Menteur Highway for over 20 years, ever since Folgers purchased the site in 1998. But the city has a much longer history with the coffee brand, one that trails back to the late 1950s, when it announced the launch of its first facility in New Orleans East on Old Gentilly Road.
Today, as J.M. Smucker Co., which owns Folgers, faces rising tariffs on coffee beans imported from Central and South America, along with roasters across the nation, its Crescent City facility remains the largest of its kind…