Elmer's Fine Foods facts for kids
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| Industry | Snack Foods Manufacturing |
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| Founded | 1946 |
| Headquarters | 2404 Port Street, New Orleans, Louisiana |
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Key people
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Alan Elmer Sr., President |
| Products | Snack food |
Elmer's Fine Foods, often called just Elmer's, is a company that makes tasty snacks. It's located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The company started in 1946. They are famous for their CheeWees and Mardi Gras cheese curls, which are sold in many southeastern states.
Before they sold their chocolate business, Elmer's also made special holiday candies like Heavenly Hash and Gold Bricks. These were very popular along the Gulf Coast states. Their main factory and offices are in the Ninth Ward, a part of New Orleans that was badly flooded during Hurricane Katrina.
Contents
The Story of Elmer's Snacks
How It All Began
The Elmer Candy Company first started way back in 1855. It was called Miller Candy Company and was founded by Christopher Miller. Later, Miller gave the company to his son-in-law, Augustus Elmer. Augustus changed the name to Miller-Elmer Candy.
Augustus Elmer had five sons who joined the business. Around 1914, the company became known as the Elmer Candy Corporation.
The Birth of CheeWees
During the Great Depression, a tough economic time, the Elmer brothers created a new snack. It was a cheese-curl snack made from cornmeal. In 1939, Morel M. Elmer Sr., who was the sales manager, held a contest in New Orleans. The goal was to name their famous cheese curls. The winning name was CheeWees!
In 1946, a new company called Elmer's Fine Foods was created. Its job was to sell and market these new cheese-curl snacks.
Losing and Getting Back the Name
In 1963, the five sons of Augustus Elmer sold the Elmer Candy Corporation. When they did this, they also gave up the special rights to the names of their products. This meant Elmer's Fine Foods could no longer use the name CheeWees. For the next 30 years, the company sold its popular cheese curls under different names, like Chee-T and Chee-Z-Snax.
In the 1980s, three brothers named Alan, Paul, and Stephen Elmer joined the business. They were the grandchildren of Augustus Elmer. They worked to make the company more modern, added new products, and helped sales grow. Alan, who became president of Elmer's Fine Foods, really wanted to use the original CheeWees name again.
In 1993, Elmer's Fine Foods successfully bought back the rights to the CheeWees name from the Elmer Candy Corporation. After that, they could once again sell their famous snacks as CheeWees!
Rebuilding After Hurricane Katrina
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused a lot of damage in New Orleans. Elmer's Fine Foods had to close for 14 months while its buildings and equipment were repaired. The company reopened in January 2007 and also launched its first website.
Today, brothers Alan, Stephen, and Paul are the fifth generation of the Elmer family to work in the food business in New Orleans. CheeWees are sold across Mississippi and Louisiana. Their sales have even grown to reach national and international markets.
Elmer's Products
- CheeWees come in six yummy flavors: original cheese, bar-b-que, hot-n-spicy, green onion, jalapeño, and pizza.
- Elmer's Popcorn is ready-to-eat and comes in caramel, cheese, and Creole Crunch flavors. Creole Crunch is a mix of caramel and spicy popcorn.
- Elmer's Jumbo Peanuts are dry roasted and sold in their shells.
- You can even buy Elmer's CheeWees T-shirts!
See also
In Spanish: Elmer's Fine Foods para niños
- Cheese puffs – Elmer's Fine Foods helped develop these snacks.
