Prior to starting Bud?s Best in 1991, Bud Cason owned and ran Greg?s Cookies in Birmingham. He purchased the business in 1970. Sales were only one million dollars per year. In 1983, he purchased Bishop Baking Company (a snack cake company) in Cleveland TN. He sold the two companies in 1986 when revenues were 23 million. Bud had to sign a 5-year non-compete agreement.

Bud?s Best Cookies began construction of the 89,000 sq. ft. building in 1991. The first cookies were sold in April of 1993. Sales for 1993 were 1.8 million. Bud Cason started a whole new concept (bite size cookies) and very few of his ?old? customers were willing to switch brands. They were still selling the full-size, economy cookies. Bud was now making an upscale, bite size cookie.

Revenues in 1999 grew to over 15 million and revenues for 2002 are projected at $18-19 million. Our company continues to grow despite stiff competition and slotting fees the ?rent? retailers usually demand just to ?allow? you on the shelf.

Since 1995, Bud?s Best has been contract manufacturing for a national baking company and won the ?Co-packer of the Year Award? in 1998 for manufacturing excellence.

We started the third addition to the factory in 2001, and it was completed in 2002. We added an additional 47,000 square feet of warehouse space and extended one of our 80 foot ovens to 160 feet doubling our sandwich cookie production capability from four thousand to eight thousand sandwich cookies per minute! We have two other lines that make wire-cut and rotary cookies, and we can make around 3,500 per minute on each of those lines. The total capacity (output) is over 1 million cookies per hour.

Bud Cason was Small Business Man of the year for Shelby county in 1998. Bud?s Best Cookies was voted by the Birmingham Business Journal as one of the best small businesses in Birmingham for 1998 and 1999. The latest honor was at a special luncheon in may of 2002, when Bud?s Best Cookies was presented Business of the Year Award by the Leadership Alumni Association of Shelby County.

The tour lets you see the cookie-making process as you ride a miniature train through the plant. Free cookie samples are available after tour.

Our family-owned-and-operated bakery, located just 50 miles south of Dallas, Texas, has been baking the world-famous DeLuxe Fruitcake for over 100 years.

The DeLuxe you order today is still baked true to the Old-World recipe brought to Corsicana, Texas from Wiesbaden, Germany in 1896 by master baker Gus Wiedmann. He and his partner, Tom McElwee, built a lively business in turn-of-the-century Corsicana which included an elegant hotel on the top floor of the bakery. Many famous guests enjoyed their fine hospitality including Enrico Caruso, Will Rogers, John J. McGraw, "Gentleman Jim" Corbett and John Ringling.

In fact, the bakery was thrust into the mail order business when Mr. Ringling's circus troupe, upon tasting the mouth-watering DeLuxe asked to have these Christmas Cakes sent to family and friends throughout Europe. And so began an international Christmas gift tradition.

We are mail order specialists, and whether your order is for one cake or 1,000, we make sure it is sent exactly as requested. Many years of experience, coupled with our decorative holiday tin and protective shipping carton, ensure your gift will arrive in perfect condition anywhere in the world, fresh delivery guaranteed.

Eli?s Cheesecake World is the only place where you can see Chicago?s favorite dessert actually being made. It?s fun and educational to watch Eli?s bakers busy at work. Visit our 62,000 square foot state-of-the-art bakery and enjoy a slice of Eli?s rich, creamy Cheesecake! Then shop in our café, or visit the cheesecake bar where over 30 different flavors are available by the slice each day. Come and taste why Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jay Leno, Donny Osmond, Susan Lucci, Larry King and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley are just a few of Eli?s many fans!

Next time you?re in Chicago, stop by for a tour. Individuals, families and groups are all welcome at Eli?s.

Since 1950, Mee Mee Bakery, located in San Francisco's Chinatown, has been making fresh fortune cookies daily from our bakery to individuals, restaurants, and special events. We produce the Shangri-La Brand and besides making great tasting fortune cookies, we also make fresh breads, almond and sesame cookies, and chinese pastries.

Ninnie Baird was a remarkable woman...

In a day and age when it was rare for a woman to become a successful entrepreneur, she was. But the founding of Mrs Baird's Bread wasn't exactly a smooth road.

In 1901 William and Ninnie Baird brought their family from Tennessee to Fort Worth, Texas. William, a restaurateur by trade, set up a business in downtown Fort Worth selling popcorn from a bright red cart with brass fittings and a loud steam whistle. Within months his success led him to buy another popcorn cart which was run by his oldest son, Dewey, only eight-years-old. But it wasn't long before William Baird decided to get back into the restaurant business.

By 1905, William Baird had started, built up and sold one restaurant and was working on his second, when he received devastating news. He was diagnosed as having diabetes, in those days an incurable and untreatable disease.

Although very ill, William Baird and his young son Dewey worked in the family restaurant. Ninnie Baird tended to the home and her three other sons, and like everyone else of that time, she baked for her family.

Every day she would cut wood to fire the wood-burning stove. It was hot, sometimes dirty work, but in spite of the lack of modern conveniences, Mrs. Baird became a wonderful baker. The loaves of bread, cakes and pies she baked, the family enjoyed. Any extra was shared with the neighbors. Her bread was so delicious that it wasn't long before her reputation was known far and wide.

Ninnie did all her baking in a wood-fired stove...

In 1908, with William's health failing, it became impossible for him to continue working. It was clear that Ninnie Baird needed to find a way to help support her family, so she established Mrs Baird's Bread.

In 1911, William died and Ninnie Baird decided to continue the business she had begun. Every day, in her home, in a wood-burning stove that could bake only four loaves at a time, Ninnie baked her wonderful bread, cakes and pies. Her boys helped bake and deliver the bread on foot. Her daughters took care of the smaller children and did other chores around the house. Mrs Baird's Bread was truly a family business.

As business grew, the boys went from delivering bread on foot, to riding bicycles.

In 1915, demand for Mrs Baird's bread had outgrown Ninnie's wood-burning stove. A larger oven was needed so she bought a commercial oven from the Metropolitan Hotel in Fort Worth. Unable to pay cash for the $75 oven, Ninnie put down $25 and paid out the rest in bread and rolls. The new oven, which could bake 40 loaves at a time, was installed in a small wooden building in the family's backyard.

Sales continued to grow to the point where the boys could not make deliveries on their bicycles. So, the Baird's buggy was converted into a wagon and pulled by the family horse, Ned. The first company employee, Mr. Lipps, who was not a Baird family member, was hired to drive the wagon.

Ned, it turns out, was quite a delivery horse. He came to know the route so well that he would stop at every customer's house without the urging of his driver. Over time, delivering to the sales route became son Hoyt's job. In 1917 the family bought a Ford passenger car, took out the seats and painted "Eat More Mrs Baird's Bread" on the sides.

Old Ned retires and expansion begins...

About this time Mrs Baird's Bread began selling to commercial accounts. Two Telephone Exchanges bought pies daily and Sandegard's Grocery became the company's first bread reseller. Sandegard's, a large store with a delicatessen, proved to be a very good customer as it soon grew to 15 stores, all displaying Mrs Baird's Bread prominently in a glass case.

In 1918, Hoyt Baird left Fort Worth to join the Army, leaving the company without a delivery driver. It was decided to discontinue selling direct and concentrate instead on selling only wholesale. Demand steadily increased, and so did the bakery. Now located at 6th Avenue and Terrell Street, the little 30 foot by 72 foot facility housed an oven that could bake 400 loaves at a time. Wholesale deliveries now stretched into every corner of Fort Worth, where fresh-baked bread, rolls, cakes and pies were delivered every day. Over the next ten years the bakery was enlarged nine times, until it was one of the largest baking facilities in Texas.

In 1928, the Bairds opened a new bakery across the Trinity River in Dallas, Texas. The stock market crash of 1929 signaled the start of the Great Depression, and, like everyone else, Mrs Baird's Bread had to cut back to survive those lean times. By 1938, business was returning to normal and the bakery needed to expand again. They built a new bakery in Houston, Texas and added another plant in Fort Worth. Once a one-horse delivery system, now a fleet of trucks was needed at each of the four bakeries. The two new bakeries also featured plate glass windows so that visitors could watch the baking process. Not only could you smell the delicious bread, but you could watch it being made as well.

In the 1940's, America entered World War II and the country saw a shortage of many items, like sugar. Because they went off to fight the war, workers were also in short supply. These shortages forced Mrs Baird's to reduce the number and kinds of bread product it baked, but it never compromised on quality. If an ingredient was in short supply, then the bakery just didn't bake that item for a while.

Post War Growth establishes Mrs Baird's as Texas' Bread

Following the war, in 1949, Mrs Baird's expanded again building a bakery in Abilene, Texas. In 1959 and 1960 the company acquired bakeries in the Texas cities of Victoria, Lubbock, Waco and Austin.

Throughout the 1950's and 1960's, the company prospered. Ninnie Baird, the namesake of the thriving company, however, experienced declining health. Now 80, she stayed at home most of the time. The boys handled most of the day-to-day operations, but Ninnie Baird, still the Chairman of the Board, was always consulted on the major decisions. The family's commitment to quality, freshness and service never waivered. It was a work ethic that was passed on from generation to generation as well as, the importance of family, a Christian upbringing, and community. From the beginning until her death, she shared with her neighbors and her community.

Tour one of Mrs Baird's Bakeries and see firsthand how Mrs Baird's Bread is baked. Tour reservations are granted on a first come, first serve basis, so we recommend you contact the bakery you wish to tour at least two to three weeks in advance. Scheduling a time in the morning is a good idea during hot weather months.

Ninnie Baird was a remarkable woman...

In a day and age when it was rare for a woman to become a successful entrepreneur, she was. But the founding of Mrs Baird's Bread wasn't exactly a smooth road.

In 1901 William and Ninnie Baird brought their family from Tennessee to Fort Worth, Texas. William, a restaurateur by trade, set up a business in downtown Fort Worth selling popcorn from a bright red cart with brass fittings and a loud steam whistle. Within months his success led him to buy another popcorn cart which was run by his oldest son, Dewey, only eight-years-old. But it wasn't long before William Baird decided to get back into the restaurant business.

By 1905, William Baird had started, built up and sold one restaurant and was working on his second, when he received devastating news. He was diagnosed as having diabetes, in those days an incurable and untreatable disease.

Although very ill, William Baird and his young son Dewey worked in the family restaurant. Ninnie Baird tended to the home and her three other sons, and like everyone else of that time, she baked for her family.

Every day she would cut wood to fire the wood-burning stove. It was hot, sometimes dirty work, but in spite of the lack of modern conveniences, Mrs. Baird became a wonderful baker. The loaves of bread, cakes and pies she baked, the family enjoyed. Any extra was shared with the neighbors. Her bread was so delicious that it wasn't long before her reputation was known far and wide.

Ninnie did all her baking in a wood-fired stove...

In 1908, with William's health failing, it became impossible for him to continue working. It was clear that Ninnie Baird needed to find a way to help support her family, so she established Mrs Baird's Bread.

In 1911, William died and Ninnie Baird decided to continue the business she had begun. Every day, in her home, in a wood-burning stove that could bake only four loaves at a time, Ninnie baked her wonderful bread, cakes and pies. Her boys helped bake and deliver the bread on foot. Her daughters took care of the smaller children and did other chores around the house. Mrs Baird's Bread was truly a family business.

As business grew, the boys went from delivering bread on foot, to riding bicycles.

In 1915, demand for Mrs Baird's bread had outgrown Ninnie's wood-burning stove. A larger oven was needed so she bought a commercial oven from the Metropolitan Hotel in Fort Worth. Unable to pay cash for the $75 oven, Ninnie put down $25 and paid out the rest in bread and rolls. The new oven, which could bake 40 loaves at a time, was installed in a small wooden building in the family's backyard.

Sales continued to grow to the point where the boys could not make deliveries on their bicycles. So, the Baird's buggy was converted into a wagon and pulled by the family horse, Ned. The first company employee, Mr. Lipps, who was not a Baird family member, was hired to drive the wagon.

Ned, it turns out, was quite a delivery horse. He came to know the route so well that he would stop at every customer's house without the urging of his driver. Over time, delivering to the sales route became son Hoyt's job. In 1917 the family bought a Ford passenger car, took out the seats and painted "Eat More Mrs Baird's Bread" on the sides.

Old Ned retires and expansion begins...

About this time Mrs Baird's Bread began selling to commercial accounts. Two Telephone Exchanges bought pies daily and Sandegard's Grocery became the company's first bread reseller. Sandegard's, a large store with a delicatessen, proved to be a very good customer as it soon grew to 15 stores, all displaying Mrs Baird's Bread prominently in a glass case.

In 1918, Hoyt Baird left Fort Worth to join the Army, leaving the company without a delivery driver. It was decided to discontinue selling direct and concentrate instead on selling only wholesale. Demand steadily increased, and so did the bakery. Now located at 6th Avenue and Terrell Street, the little 30 foot by 72 foot facility housed an oven that could bake 400 loaves at a time. Wholesale deliveries now stretched into every corner of Fort Worth, where fresh-baked bread, rolls, cakes and pies were delivered every day. Over the next ten years the bakery was enlarged nine times, until it was one of the largest baking facilities in Texas.

In 1928, the Bairds opened a new bakery across the Trinity River in Dallas, Texas. The stock market crash of 1929 signaled the start of the Great Depression, and, like everyone else, Mrs Baird's Bread had to cut back to survive those lean times. By 1938, business was returning to normal and the bakery needed to expand again. They built a new bakery in Houston, Texas and added another plant in Fort Worth. Once a one-horse delivery system, now a fleet of trucks was needed at each of the four bakeries. The two new bakeries also featured plate glass windows so that visitors could watch the baking process. Not only could you smell the delicious bread, but you could watch it being made as well.

In the 1940's, America entered World War II and the country saw a shortage of many items, like sugar. Because they went off to fight the war, workers were also in short supply. These shortages forced Mrs Baird's to reduce the number and kinds of bread product it baked, but it never compromised on quality. If an ingredient was in short supply, then the bakery just didn't bake that item for a while.

Post War Growth establishes Mrs Baird's as Texas' Bread

Following the war, in 1949, Mrs Baird's expanded again building a bakery in Abilene, Texas. In 1959 and 1960 the company acquired bakeries in the Texas cities of Victoria, Lubbock, Waco and Austin.

Throughout the 1950's and 1960's, the company prospered. Ninnie Baird, the namesake of the thriving company, however, experienced declining health. Now 80, she stayed at home most of the time. The boys handled most of the day-to-day operations, but Ninnie Baird, still the Chairman of the Board, was always consulted on the major decisions. The family's commitment to quality, freshness and service never waivered. It was a work ethic that was passed on from generation to generation as well as, the importance of family, a Christian upbringing, and community. From the beginning until her death, she shared with her neighbors and her community.

Tour one of Mrs Baird's Bakeries and see firsthand how Mrs Baird's Bread is baked. Tour reservations are granted on a first come, first serve basis, so we recommend you contact the bakery you wish to tour at least two to three weeks in advance. Scheduling a time in the morning is a good idea during hot weather months.

Hand-made pretzel bakery, dough mixing, pretzel twisting (rolling) dip and bake, kiln dry and pack. Outlet store.

Utz Quality Foods, Inc. was started in 1921 by Bill and Salie Utz in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Bill Utz, dissatisfied with the quality of potato chips being produced at the time, believed so strongly in the marketability of a wholesome quality chip that he quit his job and risked it all to begin producing the couple's own brand of potato chips.

Under the brand name of "Hanover Home Brand Potato Chips", Salie used her knowledge of good Pennsylvania Dutch cooking to make the chips in a small summer house behind their home on McAllister Street.

The hand operated equipment she used made about 50 pounds of chips per hour. Bill delivered the chips to independent stores and farmers' markets in the Hanover and Baltimore area. Demand for the chips grew rapidly, and Salie and Bill soon built a separate building behind their house. In 1936, they installed one of the first automatic potato chip cookers, capable of producing 300 pounds per hour. F.X. "Xav" Rice, who married Arlene Utz, one of Bill and Salie's two daughters, joined the organization to manage business operations.

When F.X. Rice retired in 1978, his son Michael Rice took over as the third generation of Utz management. This new team is leading major expansion of Utz's operations. Utz was the first in the snack industry to use in-truck computers to prepare invoices, manage inventory, and process route accounting transactions.

The steady growth of Utz Quality Foods is a reflection of Utz quality... in its facilities, in its products, and in its people. Together, effective management and a dedicated work force have provided the very best products to an ever growing marketplace for over 78 years.