| 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 bars |
| Website | www.mckeefoods.com |
McKee Foods Corporation is a privately held United States company headquartered in Collegedale, Tennessee.
Contents |
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]
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]
Sunbelt products include a variety of granola bars and cereals. The Sunbelt brand pioneered the chewy granola bar.