No, Little Debbie is not going out of business

Little Debbie snacks, like the top-selling oatmeal creme pies, swiss cake rolls and nutty buddy wafer bars, have been popular grocery store items since the 1960s.

Recent online searches show that many people are wondering if Little Debbie is going out of business. Several VERIFY viewers, including Roosevelt, Bridget and Jennifer, have asked our team to confirm whether the snack cakes are really being discontinued in the U.S.

THE QUESTION

Is Little Debbie going out of business?

THE SOURCES

• McKee Foods Corporation, the company that owns Little Debbie 
• Mike Gloekler, corporate communications & PR manager at McKee Foods Corporation
• Defense Commissary Agency
• Independent searches of Little Debbie products sold on the Defense Commissary Agency, Navy Exchange, Fred Meyer, Publix and Target websites

THE ANSWER

No, Little Debbie is not going out of business. However, Little Debbie products are no longer being sold at commissaries and U.S. Navy retail stores. In addition, Little Debbie is not currently being distributed in Canada. 

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WHAT WE FOUND

Little Debbie is not going out of business. 

Instead, McKee Foods Corporation, the family-owned bakery that manufactures Little Debbie-brand snack cakes, says the product is no longer being sold in commissaries on U.S. military bases and in U.S. Navy retail stores nationwide and overseas. These stores are available to military personnel, retirees and their authorized family members.

In September, Mike Gloekler, corporate communications & PR manager at McKee Foods, told reporters at Stars and Stripes, a daily American military newspaper, that “the regulatory standards required of McKee Foods are too costly to continue supplying the Defense Commissary Agency and Navy Exchange Service.”

“As supporters of the men and women who serve the United States military this was a very difficult decision for us to make,” Gloekler said. “We believe in the mission of forward-deployed troops, and we understand the impact that the comforts of home have on morale. Perhaps some will see an opportunity to streamline federal contractor compliance.”

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In an email to VERIFY, Gloekler confirmed the information found in the Stars and Stripes article is accurate. 

The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries. On its website, military personnel, retirees and their families can shop online for certain products at the commissary located closest to them.

VERIFY conducted an independent search of Little Debbie-brand snack cakes at several commissaries nationwide and overseas, including Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, and Camp Kinser in Japan, and found that the products were not available for purchase online.

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In an email, Kevin L. Robinson, a spokesperson for the Defense Commissary Agency, confirmed to VERIFY that McKee Foods discontinued selling Little Debbie brand snack cakes and other McKee Foods products to commissaries on Sept. 1, 2022.

VERIFY also searched for Little Debbie-brand snack cakes on the Navy Exchange website but found that none of the products appeared in its online store either.  

In addition, Gloekler said the company is not currently being distributed in Canada. The company's sole distributor in Canada is no longer carrying their products, and a new distributor has not been identified. 

But Gloekler says Little Debbie-brand snack cakes will continue to be sold to consumers across the United States. 

“Little Debbie is here to stay,” Gloekler told VERIFY.

VERIFY also checked to see if the snack cakes are available for purchase at major grocery store chains in the U.S., and we found that the products are still on the shelves at Fred Meyer, Publix and Target. 

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