Local Market on Line worth seeking out fresh, regional products

What was once an adjunct to her partner’s bloody mary offerings has grown into a multi-faceted local niche business that is gaining popularity despite its almost impossible-to-find location.

Kanya Michelle is half the team comprising Local Market on Line and Shreveport Biscuit Company.

“I started Shreveport Biscuit Company three years ago at the end of 2020. It was actually called Shreveport Cottage Homestead. I made scones and pies and stuff. My first pop-up was at C&C Mercantile, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Small Business Saturday.

“We did a pop-up with [her partner Paul Loggins’] bloody marys during the holidays. You got a bloody mary for free for purchasing a biscuit. The biscuits just kind of caught on.”

Eventually, she and Loggins found their way to the Shreveport Farmers’ Market. “I’m not from here. I moved here in 2016. There aren’t any stores you can go to in Shreveport and just get local products. Our farmers’ market is only open for three months out of the year.

“We did the farmers’ market last summer.

That caught on. We do hot biscuit sandwiches at the farmers’ market. In October we officially started selling our frozen biscuits wholesale in retail locations. We started up here at Sunshine Health Market and also down in Metairie at Laughing Buddha Nursery and in New Orleans at the Rabbit’s Foot. That’s how the biscuits got started.”

Michelle said, “I just wanted to create a space where you could find local produce off-season, find local dairy and find it all in one place so you’re not driving all over Shreveport.”

Local products make great gifts.

Local Market’s display of local items.

So far, the place, which is Local Market on Line, is still hard to find. Map apps apparently send people all over the place, but the bricks and mortar are at 3311 Line Ave., near Sweetport and across from the Glenwood Tea Room.

“This is local produce gifts. We try to stay with as many Louisiana products as possible. We try to stick with regional. We also have some more boutique food items. Fancy tinned fish, dates, I do eventually want to get some truffles in here, some chanterelle mushrooms we have right now. Those are local, just things you can’t find at other places.

“Local produce is important to us. We have a local farm share that’s going to start doing pick-ups here in January. We posted about it, and they had a record number of sign-ups.”

The Line Avenue location will ultimately be their production location. Currently, they are baking at the Highland Center, but their own kitchen is under construction.

“We had to build a kitchen. It’s not completed yet. We had to wait on permits. Once construction is done here, we will have biscuits produced for statewide distribution.

“We plan to have café hours during the day, soups, salads, things like that, seasonal using as many local products as we can.

“We’re going to close on Saturdays during Shreveport market season because we’re going to be back at the Shreveport Farmers’ Market. We want to encourage people to support local.

“Local Market grew up out of the Shreveport Biscuit Company because I wanted to be able to open a store front and not just provide biscuits, I want to be able to sell my friends’ local stuff.”

The hard-to-spot location is already familiar to many. Several customers came in during Michelle’s interview with 318 Forum, but the sign that will be painted on the front window after the holidays should help pin the location down. In the meantime, you can check them out at https://www.facebook.com/ShreveportBiscuitCompany.