Jiffy's New Face

Chelsea Milling builds a welcome center.

by Vickie Elmer

posted 2/24/2010

Tours of the Jiffy Mix factory are by far Chelsea's top attraction. That's partly why the Chelsea Milling Company is spending $6 million on a new addition--in the shape of three small grain silos.

The multipurpose building, currently under construction, will provide space for research and development laboratories and a demonstration kitchen. It will also house a historical exhibit on Jiffy and a welcome center.

"It will put a newer face on Chelsea Milling Company, and it's long overdue," says Howdy Holmes, the fourth-generation president of the family-owned firm.

In the last two years, Chelsea Milling has expanded into supplying restaurants, institutional food service operations, and some foreign markets. Already, its Jiffy corn muffin mix is shipped to China and New Zealand, and the company is in early discussions with distributors in other countries too. "We're growing substantially," Holmes says.

Tucked into the new 11,000-square-foot structure will be a pilot plant where new products can be tested in "small" batches of about 200 pounds.   

[Originally published in February, 2010.]