The Rest of the Story
Hanley's Foods
Richard and Kate: A Louisiana Love Story
Richard and Kate Hanley have been together since they were 16 years old. In 2012, they discovered that their favorite salad dressing, Sensation, a staple found in kitchens, restaurants, and cookbooks across Louisiana, was not available on store shelves anywhere. After a few salad parties where family and friends voted on their favorite homemade recipe, they brought the winning version to the Red Stick Farmers Market in Baton Rouge, and it has been selling out ever since.
They teamed up with the LSU AgCenter's Food Incubator to bring their dressing to market quickly, taking what started as a family recipe and turning it into a real Louisiana food brand. What drives them has never changed: a belief that food should be better, that dressings should be made from real ingredients by real people, and that a great salad can genuinely improve how people eat and live.
From the Farmers Market to 2,000 Stores
Hanley's growth from the Red Stick Farmers Market to a presence in over 2,000 retail stores nationwide is one of the most compelling small food business stories in the South. The brand has been featured on CNBC's Billion Dollar Buyer, where Tilman Fertitta visited the Hanley's operation and recognized its quality and potential. Forbes covered them. Grocery Headquarters Magazine featured them. They have served Whole Foods, Walmart, Costco, Royal Caribbean, and Compass Group. Through it all, Richard and Kate have continued making every bottle by hand in Louisiana, maintaining the quality and integrity that got them there.
The Hanley's Krewe
Hanley's Foods is run by a small, passionate Louisiana crew. Richard Hanley leads the operation as founder and head of production. Kate Hanley co-founded the brand and shapes its direction. Katie Hanley Dunlap, Andy Kinler, and Marvin Moncada round out the core krewe, each bringing genuine care and Louisiana spirit to what they do. This is a team that believes in their products because they use them every day.
The Mission: Dress It Better
Hanley's is built on the belief that the dressing is what makes people actually eat salad. Most commercial dressings are loaded with seed oils, artificial preservatives, sugar, and fillers that undermine the very health benefits of the salad they are supposed to enhance. Hanley's started as a direct answer to that problem: premium dressings made from real, locally sourced ingredients, with no junk, that make salads worth eating. Their Dress It Better tagline is not just marketing. It is a philosophy rooted in Louisiana's deep love of food, community, and doing things right.
