Jays Foods, Inc. is an American manufacturer of snack products including potato chips, popcorn and pretzels. Jays Foods was founded in 1927 in Chicago, Illinois, and is currently a subsidiary of Snyder's-Lance, Inc. Snyder's-Lance, Inc. became a subsidiary of The Campbell's Company on March 26, 2018.[3] Operating in several Midwestern states, Jays Foods' potato chips and popcorn maintain significant shares of their respective markets.
History
Leonard Japp Sr. began selling pretzels from a truck in 1927. The business grew to feature a potato chip recipe made by Japp's wife, Eugenia.[1] After the Wall Street crash of 1929, Japp found a new business partner (George Johnson of Chicago, later Founder of Chesty's in Terre Haute, IN) and began selling the chips under the brand name "Mrs. Japp’s Potato Chips". The 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and subsequent anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States, however, led to a negative connotation towards the word "Jap" in the United States.[3]