Template:Short description Template:Redirect {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for clobbered parameters|check|nested=1|template=Infobox company|cat=Template:Main other|name; company_name|logo; company_logo|logo_alt; alt|trade_name; trading_name|former_names; former_name|type; company_type|predecessors; predecessor|successors; successor|foundation; founded|founders; founder|defunct; dissolved|hq_location; location|hq_location_city; location_city|hq_location_country; location_country|num_locations; locations|areas_served; area_served|net_income; profit|net_income_year; profit_year|owners; owner |homepage; website }}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox company with unknown parameter "_VALUE_" | ignoreblank=y | alt | area_served | areas_served | assets | assets_year | aum | brands | company_logo | company_name | company_type | defunct | dissolved | divisions | embed | equity | equity_year | fate | footnotes | former_name | former_names | foundation | founded | founder | founders | genre | homepage | hq_location | hq_location_city | hq_location_country | incorporated | image | image_alt | image_caption | image_size | image_upright | income_year | industry | ISIN | key_people | location | location_city | location_country | locations | logo | logo_alt | logo_caption | logo_class | logo_size | logo_upright | members | members_year | module | name | native_name | native_name_lang | net_income | net_income_year | num_employees | num_employees_year | num_locations | num_locations_year | operating_income | owner | owners | parent | predecessor | predecessors | production | production_year | products | profit | profit_year | rating | ratio | revenue | revenue_year | romanized_name | services | subsid | successor | successors | traded_as | trade_name | trading_name | type | website| qid | fetchwikidata | suppressfields | noicon | nocat | demo | categories }} McKee Foods Corporation is a privately held and family-owned American snack food and granola manufacturer headquartered in Collegedale, Tennessee.<ref>"Corporate Fact Sheet Template:Webarchive." McKee Foods. Retrieved on November 17, 2012. "Street address: 10260 McKee Road Collegedale, TN 37315"</ref> The corporation is the maker of Drake's Cakes, Fieldstone Bakery snacks and cereal, Little Debbie snacks, and Sunbelt Bakery granola and cereal.<ref name=pick>Template:Cite news</ref> The company also formerly operated Heartland Brands.
HistoryEdit
The company was founded during the Great Depression by Oather Dorris "O.D." McKee and Ruth McKee.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Oather 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 help. They decided to buy back the bakery, which was renamed McKee Baking Company from King's Bakery in 1962, and run it themselves.
McKee Baking Company moved to Collegedale in 1957. In 1991, McKee Baking Company became McKee Foods Corporation.
Ellsworth McKee, the son of company-founder O.D. McKee, took over, but retired from day-to-day operations in September 2012 and retains the position of company chairman.<ref name="Ooltewah">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
It was announced on 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The bankruptcy court approved the purchase on April 9, 2013.<ref>David Flessner, "McKee completes purchase of Drake's Cakes from bankrupt Hostess", "Chattanooga Times Free Press, April 9, 2013</ref>
As of 2013, McKee ships more than 900 million cartons of Little Debbie products each year.<ref name="modbake"/>
BrandsEdit
Little DebbieEdit
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Little Debbie products are primarily cookie and cake-based dessert snacks. They come in dozens of varieties, including the top-selling Swiss Cake Rolls, Nutty Bars, Fudge Rounds, Cloud Cakes, Cosmic Brownies, Zebra Cakes, and Oatmeal Creme Pies.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Little Debbie products are available in most discount, grocery, and convenience stores, both in boxes and as individually wrapped items.
In 1960, company founders O.D. and Ruth McKee decided to name a product after one of their grandchildren, four-year-old Debbie. Now Debbie McKee-Fowler serves as Executive Vice-President and serves on the McKee Foods Board of Directors.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The original image of Debbie used on packaging and advertising, which began on August 23, 1960, was based on a black-and-white photo. Full-color portraits of Little Debbie started later in 1960. Artist Pearl Mann of Atlanta created the original color artwork. Following instructions, she made the little girl look older, around 8 or 9.<ref name="McKee-LittleDebbie">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Land2014" /><ref name="Motorsport-Wood-LittleDeb-Nov2005"/> Minor changes were made to the logo in 1985 and again in 2013.<ref name="modbake">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} </ref>
The Little Debbie brand has sponsored NASCAR teams since the 1990s,<ref name="Land2014">Template:Cite book</ref> most notably the Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from 2006 to 2008.<ref name="Motorsport-Wood-LittleDeb-Nov2005">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Motorsport-JTG-Ambrose-Sep2008"/> The brand switched to the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing team in the 2009 season, after sponsoring both teams in 2008.<ref name="Motorsport-JTG-Ambrose-Sep2008">Template:Cite news</ref> From sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, known as the Sabbath, the Little Debbie logos are covered or removed, and the crew wears non-Little Debbie attire as a condition of sponsorship because McKee Foods was founded and is run by owners who are Seventh-day Adventists.<ref name="Land2014"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
As of late 2022, the cakes will not be sold in US Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency and Navy Exchange commissaries. McKee has said<ref name="2022-09-02_S&S">Goodbye, Little Debbie: Snack cakes to gradually disappear from commissary shelves, Kelly Agee, Stars and Stripes, 2022-09-02, accessed 2022-09-14</ref> that the regulatory standards required of McKee Foods are too costly to continue supplying the commissaries.
Also as of late-2022, the cakes will not be sold in Canada. The company said<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> that their only distributor chose to "terminate their business relationship" and McKee was not actively looking for another Canadian distributor.
Drake'sEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Drake's is a baking company in Wayne, New Jersey. Originally an independent company, Drake's was owned by Hostess from 1998 to 2012;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> McKee Foods acquired Drake's line when Hostess liquidated in bankruptcy in 2012. The Drake's brand distributes snack cakes such as Ring Dings, Yodels, Devil Dogs, Yankee Doodles, Sunny Doodles, Funny Bones, and coffee cake. Their mascot is Webster, a smiling drake (a male duck) holding a spoon and wearing a chef's hat and neckerchief.
Fieldstone BakeryEdit
Products sold under the Fieldstone Bakery brand include whole grain snacks, granola, pastries, and cookies.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sunbelt BakeryEdit
Sunbelt Bakery products include a variety of granola bars, fruit snacks, and cereals.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Heartland BrandsEdit
The company previously sold granola cereals and pie crusts under the Heartland brand.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> McKee acquired the brand, which dated to 1968, in 1998.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The brand was in use until at least 2018.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>