- McKee Foods
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McKee Foods Corporation 
Type Private Industry Food Processing Headquarters Collegedale, Tennessee, USA Key people O.D. McKee[1], Mike McKee, Rusty McKee, Angie McKee, Ellsworth McKee, Jack McKee Products Little Debbie snacks
cereals
granola barsWebsite www.mckeefoods.com McKee Foods Corporation is a privately held United States company headquartered in Collegedale, Tennessee.
Contents
History
McKee Foods began in 1934 in Chattanooga when O.D. McKee purchased Jack’s Cookie Company.[2] In 1956 the company opened a facility on the campus of Southern Adventist University. Eventually all company operations would be situated in Collegedale.[3]
Brand
Little Debbie
Little Debbie products are primarily cookie and cake based dessert snacks. They come in dozens of varieties, including the top-selling Swiss Cake Rolls, Nutty Bars, Cosmic brownies and Oatmeal Creme Pies.[4] Little Debbie products are available in most discount, grocery, and convenience stores, both in boxes and individual wrappings.
The Little Debbie brand is better known than McKee Foods, its parent company. In the 1960s, company founders O.D. and Ruth McKee decided to name a product after one of their grandchildren - four-year-old Debbie. The original image of Debbie used on packaging and advertising was based on a black-and-white photo. Atlanta artist Fred W. Hunt did the original color artwork based on a photo O.D. had in his pocket of Little Debbie with a pony. In discussing what he wanted for a logo he pulled out her small photo and said, "Something like this." Minor changes were made to the logo in 1987.
The Little Debbie brand sponsored the Wood Brothers #21 Ford Fusion for several years in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and switched to the #47 JTG Daugherty Racing team in 2009 season. From sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, the Little Debbie logos are covered or removed, and the crew wears non-Little Debbie attire as a condition of sponsorship because McKee Foods was founded and is run by owners who are Seventh Day Adventists.[5]
Little Debbie Product Gallery
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Cosmic Brownie
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Nutty Bar
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Oatmeal Creme Pie
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Swiss Cake Roll
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Zebra Cakes
Sunbelt
Sunbelt products include a variety of granola bars and cereals. The Sunbelt brand pioneered the chewy granola bar.
Factories
References
- ^ http://www.mckeefoods.com/About_us/Company_History/Our_Founders.htm
- ^ http://www.mckeefoods.com/About_us/Company_History/History1.htm
- ^ http://www.mckeefoods.com/About_us/Company_History/History5.htm
- ^ Official FAQ for Little Debbie
- ^ "Jayski's® NASCAR Silly Season Site - Sprint Cup Team News and Links - #47". http://jayski.com/teams/47.htm. Retrieved 29 October 2010. "Little Debbie sponsorship note: The #47 team primary sponsor, Little Debbie snacks, is run by Seventh Day Adventists. From sundown Friday till sundown Saturday, the team has to cover all Little Debbie logos on the hauler, wear non-Little Debbie attire and remove all Little Debbie decal from the race car.(Autoweek)(3-16-2006)"
External links
Categories:- Snack companies of the United States
- Companies based in Tennessee
- McKee Foods brands
- Privately held companies based in Tennessee
- Southern Adventist University
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