Re-introducing East Tennessee favorites, like Kern’s Bread, Kay’s Ice Cream, and Terry’s Snacks, invites nostalgia, and increased profit-share for K-VA-T Food City.

A classic favorite of many East Tennesseans for nearly 150 years, Kern’s Bread is now being exclusively produced by Food City. The market’s former number-one brand is produced at the bakery on Chapman Highway where Kern’s products were made for decades.

Last spring Food City also brought back former Knoxville original Kay’s Ice Cream. Longtime area residents remember the ice cream shops’ large three-dimensional ice cream cone signs throughout the region. Kay’s is widely known for introducing flavors outside the realm of traditional favorites of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Combinations such as Butter Pecan became household names due to Kay’s Ice Cream.

Earlier this year, Food City partnered with Snack Alliance to reintroduce Bristol, VA original Terry’s Snacks. The longtime regional favorite is perhaps best known for its flavored potato chips and cheese puffs.

The Knoxville Chamber discussed these developments with K-VA-T CEO and president Steve Smith, and talked about Food City’s business growth.

Q: Why did you feel these local brands needed to be re-introduced in this region?

A: This is a three-part answer. First and foremost, these were brands that were number-one brands in their time. These brands were well known throughout the communities of East Tennessee and they were known for their high quality. Unfortunately, however – and for various reasons – they went out of business. (Kay’s went through bankruptcy, a larger company, Sara Lee, bought out Kern’s and that brand wasn’t a focus of Sara Lee’s branding. Sara Lee chose to focus on Sara Lee brands.)

These locally made brands were pushed aside and were phased out, but they were still well known brands that had been highly marketed throughout the years.

We’ve learned a lot from locally grown produce that we’ve bought from farmers in this region. We’ve learned that consumers really enjoy local products. Due to this trend, we started to think that the resurgence of these locally, well known, products could be a win-win situation that achieves brand-equity in our stores for our customers.

Q: Does K-VA-T now own the Kern’s Bakery building on Chapman Highway?

A: No we don’t. Sara Lee still owns the building. We went out and acquired the brands and put them in commerce. Sara Lee remains the production facility because it is a local bakery that still contains the batter-whipped recipe for Kern’s bread. It made all the sense in the world for us to go about this partnership this way.

Q: Why do you think Food City has been so successful in this area?

A: We have quite a few committed and passionate folks that not only love the grocery business but also understand this region that we live in. We have a regional office in Knoxville that employs people that live there. These employees have kids that go to school in the area. Their fingers are on the pulse of what’s going on in East Tennessee. I think that gives K-VA-T a real competitive advantage against companies such as Kroger and Wal-Mart, which are much larger than us. We can better react to changes that are happening in the market. We certainly know what the local tastes are and we can move quickly. We don’t have to have certain ideas approved from a city 300 to 500 miles away.

Q: What’s on the horizon for K-VA-T?

A: You know, we’re excited about Tennessee. We think Tennessee is poised to explode in growth for several reasons. For one, obviously, it’s a great environment for business and really is a business-friendly state. It’s also a resident-friendly state due to its lack of income tax. I believe the state lottery has added a lot with its inception of the HOPE Scholarship for students. Add to that the natural beauty that is abundant, specifically in East Tennessee, and we’re talking about quite a few things we feel will afford Tennessee continued growth. We are already capitalizing on this with new Food City stores this year in Clinton, Lenoir City, Maynardville, one on Chapman Highway, and we are looking at a location for a new store in the Hardin Valley area of Knox County.

Q: Can you provide any insight on any other long-lost favorites that K-VA-T might be bringing back for consumers who grew to love them in the past?

A: Well, we have another product line that will hit the streets in the coming months. It’ll be in the lunchmeat section but I’m not at liberty to give the name out. However, I can tell you that East Tennesseans will have a favorite coming back very shortly. We’re actually in production with the product right now.

Q: Can you offer a clue about that? Maybe whistle a jingle?

A: Let’s see if I can remember how those Pigs did it? (Laughs)

[Editor’s note: Smith and K-VA-T announced the re-launch of production of Lay’s meats on June 7. The widely popular East Tennessee brand featuring the Three Little Pigs, was housed for nearly a century in downtown Knoxville’s historic Old City district. The 225,000 square-foot facility stopped production in 2000. Lay’s Market, Inc. (a separate business) has continued to service the area from a small corner store next to where the larger packing plant once stood. Lay’s has always been known for its traditional hams, bacon, hot dogs and cured products as well as personable customer service. A television advertisement featuring animations of the pigs singing their famous jingle is fondly remembered by many.]

Lays three little pigs sing merrily. We’re for Lays come diddle-dee-dee
Lays, the best meat at your grocery store.
Lays ham, sausage, bacon, wieners too.
Bologna, luncheon meat, government inspected too.

Lays three little pigs sing merrily. We’re for Lays come diddle-dee-dee
Lays, the best meat at your grocery store.