Jiffy corn muffin mix has been produced by the Chelsea Milling Company in southeast Michigan since 1901 and remains family-owned across five generations. The product line includes corn muffin mix, cake mix, pie crust, and brownies, with production lines running at roughly 75–80 boxes per minute and multiple food-safety checks. Great-grandmother Mabel created the cornbread mix during the Great Depression; the product sold for 10 cents then and about 50 cents now. Thanksgiving represents peak season for the brand. The packaging is described as old-fashioned, and the company historically operated without a formal marketing or advertising department.
"HOLMES: The flour-milling business was created by Harmon S. Holmes. ULABY: His great-great-grandfather. HOLMES: And then there's Howard Samuel Holmes, and then Howard Sumner Holmes. ULABY: His grandfather. His dad is also Howard Holmes, and so is his baby boy. But great-grandmother Mabel invented Jiffy corn bread mix during the Great Depression. Jiffy mix cost 10 cents a box back then. Right now, 50 cents at Walmart. That old-fashioned package, says Holmes, sells itself."
"It also makes Jiffy cake mix, Jiffy pie crust, brownies. HOWARD S HOLMES II: So we have buttermilk biscuit running here. Firing off the line at about 75, 80 boxes a minute. ULABY: Howard S. Holmes II. He runs the Chelsea Milling Company, best known for Jiffy mix. HOLMES: You see the mix packages being pushed into those chutes. And then it gets sealed, weighed, layers of food safety, metal detected."
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