Jiffy corn muffin mix, which has been a Thanksgiving staple for nearly a century, still costs less than one dollar 75 years later.
Howard S. Holmes II, president and CEO of Chelsea Milling Company, which has been making Jiffy corn muffin mix for 75 years, told NPR that affordability is a point of pride for him, and that his company is able to keep prices low because it does not answer to shareholders.
Chelsea Milling Company, based in Michigan, started in 1887 and was taken over by Holmes’ great great grandfather in 1901. The business has been run by his family for five generations, with his great grandmother Mabel Holmes having invented the cornbread mix in 1930.
According to company lore, Mabel Holmes wanted to help a single father bake for his children during the Great Depression. At the time, Jiffy muffin mix cost 10 cents. But the price hasn’t skyrocketed from there, as consumers can find them on sale today for 50 cents at Walmart.
Holmes, who says he constantly fends off calls from private equity firms, added that the company has never once had a layoff, noting that the average length of employment is 14-and-a-half years.
“It’s become kind of a laughable occurrence,” he said. “You’d think that people would get it at this point, that we’re never going to sell. We’re never going to move away from the core of who we are.”
The Chelsea Milling Company CEO added that his company is not fond of the idea of rebrands.
“Do you remember when Coca-Cola came out with their new Coca-Cola formula?” Holmes asked. “It didn’t really go well. I think we’d be foolish to move away from what people expect, particularly from the performance of our mixes and the presence of our packaging.”
Holmes said he believes Jiffy’s distinctive, old-fashioned, blue and white packaging sells itself, adding that the corn muffin mix is one of the country’s top selling dry goods grocery items.
“Historically, we’ve never had a marketing department,” he said. “We’ve never had an advertising department. You’ll never see a print ad for Jiffy mix. You’ve never seen a commercial on TV for Jiffy mix. And as far as I’m concerned, you won’t.”
While Chelsea Milling Company’s large factory features state of the art machinery, it also has a room with vintage equipment “that looks like an industrial museum,” NPR reported.jiffy
However, the antiquated equipment is still used today at the factory, where an old box maker shoots Jiffy packages onto a metal track dating from World War II, Holmes said.
“We still use them,” he said.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
Read the full article here