Little Debbie
McKee Foods CorporationMcKee Foods Corporation is a privately held and family owned American snack food and granola manufacturer headquartered in Collegedale, Tennessee. The corporation is the maker of the Little Debbie Snacks, Sunbelt Bakery granola and cereal, Heartland Brands, and Drake's Cakes. McKee Foods has its own fleet of trucks to distribute its products.
The company was founded during the Great Depression by O.D. and Ruth McKee. O.D. started out selling cakes from his 1928 Whippet in the Chattanooga area. Wanting to expand, he bought a small bakery, Jack's Cookie Company. The bakery did well for a few years, but O.D. was still looking to expand. His father-in-law, however, did not share his ideas. O.D. decided to sell his business and start over.
The McKees moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, into a new bakery designed by O.D. After some time, they sold the Charlotte plant. They moved back to Chattanooga in the early 1950s when Cecil King, Ruth's brother, was in poor health and needed the help. They decided to buy back the bakery, and run it themselves.
McKee Baking Company moved to Collegedale in 1957. In 1991, McKee Baking Company became McKee Foods Corporation.
The son of McKee Foods' founder O.D. McKee, Ellsworth McKee, took over, but retired from day-to-day operations in September 2012 and retains the position of company chairman.
It was announced January 28, 2013, that McKee Foods would pay $27.5 million for Hostess Brands' Drake's brand, which includes Ring Dings, Yodels, and Devil Dogs products. The bankruptcy court approved the purchase on April 9, 2013.
As of 2013, McKee ships more than 900 million cartons of Little Debbie products each year.
The brand Little Debbie is better known than the company itself. Debbie is the granddaughter of founders O.D. and Ruth McKee, and daughter of Ellsworth McKee, the current chairman of the board and chief administrative officer.
In the 1960s, the McKees decided to name a product after one of their grandchildren, four-year-old Debbie. The photo was taken by the company Olan Mills. The original photo was black-and-white, and an Atlanta artist, Pearl Mann, did the original color artwork. She made Debbie look older, around 8 or 9. Minor changes were made to the photo in 1987.
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