Cheez-It

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Refimprove Template:Infobox brand Cheez-It is a brand of cheese crackers manufactured by Kellanova through its Sunshine Biscuits division. Approximately Template:Convert, the rectangular crackers are made with wheat flour, vegetable oil, cheese, skim milk, salt, and spices.

HistoryEdit

The history of Cheez-It crackers began in 1907, when Weston Green founded the Green & Green Company in Dayton, Ohio.<ref name="Robinson">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Green's company produced a variety of baked snack foods such as Dayton crackers, graham crackers, gingersnaps, and, during World War I, hardtack. On March 31, 1921, Green introduced Cheez-It crackers, commonly called Cheez-Its, as a new product. The company marketed the cracker as a "baked rarebit", a reference to a dish of melted cheese over toast. On May 23, 1921, the first Cheez-It logo was submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.<ref name="Robinson"/><ref name="Powell 2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Robinson 2020">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Smithsonian 2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the early 1930s, the Kansas City-based Sunshine Biscuits (which was known as the Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company until 1947) acquired the Green & Green Company, and with it came the Cheez-It cracker. Sunshine Biscuits expanded the distribution and popularity of Cheez-It crackers across the country. In 1996, Keebler acquired Sunshine Biscuits, and in 2001, Kellogg's acquired Keebler, bringing Cheez-It crackers under its umbrella.<ref name="Smithsonian 2021" /><ref name="Mason 2024">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In late 2023, Kellogg's spun off its North American cereal division as WK Kellogg Co. The company's snack food business, including Cheez-It, became part of the renamed Kellanova.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> On August 14, 2024, Kellanova announced Mars Inc., has entered into an agreement to acquire the Kellanova brand.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The deal is anticipated to close early in 2025.

Cheez-Its were officially launched in Canada in January 2020,<ref name="Canadify 2020">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Kellogg Canada 2020">Template:Cite press release</ref> as well as Australia in April 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ireland and the United Kingdom followed in September 2024.<ref name="Kellanova 2024">Template:Cite press release</ref><ref name="Sosland 2024">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

CrackerEdit

Cheez-It crackers are Template:Convert rectangles, though they are often believed to be squares.<ref name="Ganz 2023">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Cheez-It crackers are made with actual cheese, and are marketed by Kellogg's as such.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Flavors and typesEdit

File:2020-09-29 21 09 38 A sample of Cheddar Sour Cream and Onion Cheez-It Snap'd in the Dulles section of Sterling, Loudoun County, Virginia.jpg

Cheddar Sour Cream and Onion Cheez-It Snap'd

The original Cheez-It was the only product available until the 1980s; since then, there have been over 50 different varieties of Cheez-It flavors and products, including:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Colbegin