Some like it hot, and that helps Tabasco

"Fewer than 1 percent of family businesses last that long," Rothfeder said. "In fact, only about 30 percent even survive the first generation. So four generations is pretty amazing."

Durig those generations, little changed in the 50 acres of fields where Tabasco gets its start. Only 2 percent of these peppers actually end up in the sauce. The rest are harvested for their seeds, which are shipped to Latin America for planting there on behalf of the company.

Dave Landry worked for the company for more than 30 years.

"These plants here were transferred in the field in April. And these peppers will start ripening and turning to red beginning of August. And you can see these peppers are hand-picked off the bush when they're bright red," he said, walking through a pepper field.

The peppers are mashed and mixed with salt the same day they're harvested in Latin America. The salt, of course, is from Avery Island, dug out of the mountain of salt beneath it that's believed to go down as deep as Mount Everest is high.

When the mash arrives in shipping containers from Latin America it's dumped out, stirred, and poured into barrels.

Salt is added to the lids to form a hard crust, and then the barrels are stacked up — 40,000 to 50,000 of them — for three years of fermentation.

When the mash is ready to go, it heads from the warehouse to the factory where the liquid is drained out through fine sieves.

"The mash is transferred from the draining process into these large, 2,000-gallon wooden vats where vinegar is added. This is a mixture of pepper, vinegar and salt mixed for 28 days and then strained," Landry said.

The straining removes the seeds before the sauce meets a sea of tiny bottles into which it's drawn by vacuum much as it has been for almost a century. It then proceeds to capping where it receives the familiar red cap, followed by a little glue and the equally recognizable diamond label.

The McIlhennys produce nearly three-quarters of a million bottles per day. And the profitability of the sauce they contain has not gone unnoticed.

"All of the major food providers would love to have that brand in their stable," Rothfeder said. "I mean, it's such an iconic brand, you know, any company would want to have it."

Rothfelder estimates the company could be worth between $2 billion and $3 billion.

The McIlhennys claim they're not interested in selling to outsiders. Although many of them have moved far from their ancestral home, Avery Island may still have an effect on their psyches.

"This is very much an island-dwelling family," Rothfeder said. "They're very insular. They're very private. And when you live on an island that's 10 miles in diameter, that's the way you're gonna become. You're going to feel like you are you against the world."

Paul McIlhenny, the current president, was known in years past to weigh the crop himself on Avery Island. Certainly for him, it's more than just a home. It's the birthplace of a legacy.

"Avery Island to our family is not only a home site. It's a place where we've derived our income from since 1818, for a long time," McIlhenny said. "Edmund McIlhenny — we call him 'Grandpere' — but Grandpere I think would be thrilled to see that his family is now into the seventh generation of ownership, and they're still running the business and packing in one day more than he made in his lifetime. I think it's a combination of the place and the people that that make this place special and make us want to stay here."

Don't miss this on MSNBC.com Beware of drug names that look, sound alike The eight biggest Olympic marketing debacles Leno's departure will spark late-night chaos Cosmic Log: Is this your jetpack? Let your babies grow up to be globe-trotters

MORE FROM CNBC TV

CNBC TV Section Front

McDonalds has a big appetite for China GM finds surprising success in China Greenspan: Economy 'on the brink' of recession At 85, Sumner Redstone is still going strong L.A. is home to new rush of oil drilling Cutting the cost of a $77,000 fill-up Robot maker’s fortune built on a simple idea Who are the Super Rich? Baseball bat maker still hitting home runs Arianna Huffington makes waves on the Web CNBC TV Section Front   Add CNBC TV headlines to your news reader: