| Type | Private Company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Snack food |
| Headquarters | South Beloit, IL |
| Key people |
Pat McCleary, CEO |
Axium Foods, a division of McCleary, Inc., is a manufacturer of a large variety of snack products, including plain and flavored tortilla chips, corn chips, puffed cheese snacks, crunchy cheese snacks, potato poppers and caramel corn.
Axium Foods is located in South Beloit, IL and, along with being a private label manufacturer, they are also the creator and manufacturer of Pajeda’s and Fiesta Crunch.
Contents |
Eugene “Mac” McCleary was a Chemical Engineering graduate of Michigan State University class of 1942. He enlisted in the Navy during WWII and was stationed in Beloit, WI, where he was in charge of government inspection for submarine engines being built at Fairbanks Morse.
After the war, Mac was offered a job at Adams Corporation, a fledgling company formed to manufacture and distribute the Korn Kurl, a new snack food that was invented on a local dairy farm. Mac worked with Adams Corporation for 15 years as their Director of Manufacturing and was instrumental in the development of continuous production of this new snack food.
Mac started his own private label snack food company November 22, 1960 and called it McCleary Industries, later to become McCleary Inc. and Axium Foods.
In the year 2000, Axium Foods created Pajeda’s, their first branded line of tortilla chips and snacks, then in 2010 they introduced Fiesta Crunch, a line of tortilla chips and potato poppers.
In November, 2010, Axium Foods celebrated 50 years in business.[1] Mac McCleary passed away in 2007, though today the company remains family-owned and operated. [2]
Axium Foods has a full wastewater treatment plant that includes an anaerobic digester. That process creates methane gas, and while the company currently flares that gas, it is exploring ways to recapture it and/or generate electricity with it. The company also takes any dry waste created from producing its corn-based snacks and sells it as cattle feed to a local farmer, keeping the dry waste out of landfills.[3] Raw materials for their snacks, primarily corn and flavorings, come from local farmers and ingredient companies.[4]