Jimmy Dean (brand)
Jimmy Dean Foods is a food company that was founded in 1969 by country singer and actor Jimmy Dean. It was purchased by Sara Lee, which then divested as part of a unit known as Hillshire Brands, which was later purchased by Tyson Foods.
History
Dean founded the Jimmy Dean Sausage brand of breakfast sausage, which was originally called "Pure Pork Sausage." The Jimmy Dean Sausage company did well, in part due to Dean's own extemporized, good-humored commercials.[1]
Dean sold the company to the Sara Lee Corporation in 1984 for $80 million. He remained involved as the company spokesman after the takeover, though Sara Lee, under the leadership of John Bryan, immediately began phasing him out of management duties. By 2002, he was no longer acting as spokesman. In 2018, after Bryan's death, the company resumed an advertising campaign featuring Dean, who had died in 2010.[2] [3]
The Jimmy Dean company also produced a line of ready-made deli-style sandwiches. These sandwiches were made part of pre-packaged shelf-stable meals that became popular with the U.S. Armed Forces as an alternative to MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat). These meals are affectionately called "Jimmy Deans" by U.S. servicemen.[4]
Products
- Tastefuls! (discontinued)
- Fresh sausage
- Sausage links and patties
- Fresh bacon
- Full cooked bacon, sausage links, and sausage patties
- Breakfast bowls
- Sandwiches
- Jimmy Dean Skillets
- Pancake and sausage on a stick
- Omelets
- Heat 'N Serve microwavable sausage
- Jimmy D's Breakfast is
- Jimmy Dean Delights (sandwiches, bowls, and sausage)
- Jimmy Dean Biscuit Roll-Ups
References
- Calhoun, Fryar (August 1983). "Hi! I'm Jimmy Dean and I'd like you to try my pure pork sausage". Texas Monthly. Vol. 11 no. 8. Emmis Communications. pp. 121–123 198–200, 206. ISSN 0148-7736.
- "Jimmy Dean Dead". Huffington Post. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
- "Jimmy Dean featured in 2018 Ad". iSpot.tv.
- http://www.mreinfo.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2808
