Otis Spunkmeyer

Otis Spunkmeyer Inc.

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Food processing
Founded	1977
Headquarters	San Leandro, California, United States
Products	Muffins, Cookies
Number of employees	1,183 (2005)
Parent	Aryzta
Website	www.spunkmeyer.com

Otis Spunkmeyer Inc. is a baked goods distribution company widely known for its name and flagship line of muffins and cookies. Although a relatively small company, Otis Spunkmeyer has enjoyed a large amount of success in the industry, with clients ranging from small family-owned businesses and restaurants to worldwide military organizations such as the United States Army. In addition to its famous muffins and cookies, Otis Spunkmeyer also produces frozen cookie doughs and other pastries.

History

Ken Rawlings, the founder of Otis Spunkmeyer, Inc., opened the first fresh-baked cookie store in Oakland, California in 1977. For the name of the business, Rawlings took the suggestion of his 6-year-old daughter who coined the name.^[1] By 1983, with his brother Bill by his side, Rawlings had built the company into a thriving, fast growing chain with nearly two dozen stores. However, due to high overhead costs and the desire to reach a larger market, the company shifted its focus from retail to wholesale, creating a fresh-baked cookie program for other food service operators. The program included pre-portioned frozen cookie dough, a pre-set convection oven, and marketing materials. This innovative program allowed both big and small food service operators to sell fresh baked cookies (within 20 minutes) in their facilities.

Otis Spunkmeyer was well known for flying a pair of DC-3 aircraft emblazoned with the company logo over the Golden Gate.^[1]

2002 saw a management buyout led by chief executive officer, John Schiavo, in association with the private equity firm of Code Hennessy & Simmons.

In September 2005 Otis Spunkmeyer acquired Merkel-McDonald, Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of frozen IQF Cookie Dough products for the food service market, doing business as Chippery. Chippery is based out of Austin, Texas and has a 97,000-square-foot (9,000 m²) manufacturing facility located there.

In November 2006 the company was sold to IAWS Group plc for $561 million.^[2] IAWS already owned Cuisine de France and La Brea Bakery, and merged with Hiestand to form Aryzta in 2008.

References