Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/832311
McKee Foods' family of brands provides comfort with snack cakes, cereals and much more Special to NWA Democrat-Gazette McKee Foods is best known for its line of Little Debbie snack cakes, which is America's leading snack cake brand in unit sales because they provide consumers with quali- ty products of excellent value. McK- ee Foods' annual sales are about $1.4 Billion. The company was founded in 1934, when a young couple, O.D. and Ruth McKee, bought Jack's Cookie Company, a small bakery in Chat- tanooga, Tenn., and started baking small cakes. The business was known as McKee Baking Company from the 1950s until 1991, when the name was changed to McKee Foods Corporation. McKee Foods was the fi rst bakery to sell individually wrapped cakes in a multi-pack Carton. In 1960 the company introduced the Little Deb- bie brand and began selling the in- dividually wrapped cakes in multi- pack cartons. The product line was named after a granddaughter of the founders. A carton of 12 cakes had a suggested retail price of 49 cents at that time. 12 cakes would have cost 60 cents if sold separately. Little Debbie is the company's largest brand of baked goods, with a wide range of favorites, from Apple Pies to Zebra Cakes. They also off er seasonal items in rotation, such as Christmas Tree Cakes. Their products are sold in all 50 states and Canada. Sunbelt Bakery off ers granola bars, cereals and other grain-based snacks, including favorites such as the Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bar. With no preservatives in their products, they are unique because fresh batches are brought to local communities across the nation each week. Drakes Cakes, founded in 1896, became a part of McKee Foods fam- ily of brands in 2013, and is made up of favorites such as Devil Dogs, Ring Dings, Coff ee Cakes, Funny Bones, Yodels and other varieties, sold primarily in the northeastern United States. Fieldstone Bakery is a brand of cookies, breakfast pastries and other snacks targeted to meet the needs of the food-service industry. Heartland Brands is the original granola cereal and is off ered in six varieties. Also available are other grain-based products and hot cere- als. They are available in supermar- kets all across the country. McKee Foods is an equal-oppor- tunity employer, and their employ- ees are essential to their continued success. An atmosphere of under- standing, cooperation, and mutual trust is fostered at all levels. The work environment also encourages personal development and advance- ment in order to attract, stimulate and reward outstanding employees. McKee Foods is committed to quality in all aspects of their busi- ness, customer satisfaction, em- ployee satisfaction, and teamwork, products and service, eff ective measures, and a quest for fi nding "a better way." ADVERTISING FEATURE Thursday, June 1, 2017 35 NWA Democrat-Gazette Walmart Shareholders