Quality Bakers of America

Sunbeam Bread is a franchised brand of white bread, rolls, and other baked goods owned by the Quality Bakers of America cooperative. The bread products are produced and distributed by regional bakeries.

The brand was launched in 1942 and was first marketed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Annual sales of the branded bread products exceed $400 million.

Sunbeam's long-time mascot is called Little Miss Sunbeam. In 1942, illustrator Ellen Segner was commissioned by the Quality Bakers of America to create a marketing symbol of a young child. Over six months she submitted hundreds of sketches before coming across the girl who would become the first Miss Sunbeam in Southern Indiana. The image of the holiday Little Miss Sunbeam first appeared on a billboard in the 1950s. Flowers Foods, the largest distributor of Sunbeam bread, has used this image of Little Miss Sunbeam on billboards and bread bags during the holiday season, in their Sunbeam markets, since 2001. US soldiers in Vietnam would state that they were members of the "Little Miss Sunbeam Club," as they had no wounds as declared in the "batter-whipped" bread's promotional claim of "no holes" ensuring freshness and firmness.

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