Axium Foods, LLC is a manufacturer of corn-based snack products, including plain and flavored

tortilla chips A tortilla chip is a snack food made from corn tortilla, which are cut into triangles and then fried or baked (alternatively they may be discs pressed out of corn masa then fried or baked). Corn tortillas are made of nixtamalized corn, vegetab ...

, corn chips, puffed cheese snacks, and crunchy cheese snacks. Headquartered in

South Beloit, Illinois South Beloit, is a city located in Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. It is part of the Rockford Metropolitan Area, but it is also a suburban extension of Beloit, Wisconsin. South Beloit, is directly along the border of smaller cities and towns ...

, United States, it is a

private label A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

snack food manufacturer and the maker of Pajeda's snacks.

History

Eugene "Mac" McCleary graduated with a degree in chemical engineering from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

class of 1942. He enlisted in the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was stationed in Beloit, WI, where he was head of government inspection for

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

engines being built at

Fairbanks Morse Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Founded in 1823 as a manufacturer of weighing scales, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, far ...

. After the war, McCleary was offered a job at Adams Corporation, a fledgling company formed to manufacture and distribute the Korn Kurl, a new snack food that was invented on a local dairy farm. He worked with Adams Corporation for 15 years as their Director of Manufacturing, and was instrumental in the development of continuous production of this new snack food. McCleary started his own private label

snack food A snack is a small portion of Human food, food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including Food packaging, packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at ho ...

company on November 22, 1960, and called it McCleary Industries, which would later be renamed to McCleary, Inc. and then Axium Foods, Inc. In 2000, Axium Foods created Pajeda's, its first branded line of tortilla chips and snacks. In 2010, Pajeda's introduced Fiesta Crunch, a line of tortilla chips and potato poppers. McCleary died in 2007. In November 2010, Axium Foods celebrated 50 years in business. In March 2012, Axium Foods introduced the brand Mystic Harvest, including tortilla chips made with purple corn. Axium Foods was acquired by CK Snacks in September 2024.

Environmental sustainability

Axium Foods has a full

wastewater treatment plant Wastewater treatment is a process which removes and eliminates contaminants from wastewater. It thus converts it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once back in the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on ...

that includes an activated sludge sequential batch reactor. The company also takes any dry waste created from producing its corn-based snacks and sells it as cattle feed to a local farmer, keeping the dry waste out of

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

s. Raw materials for their snacks, primarily corn and flavorings, come from local farmers and ingredient companies.

Products

*Pajeda's Tortilla Chips *Pajeda's Puffed Cheese and Crunchy Cheese snacks *Pajeda's Party Mix *Pajeda's Corn Chips *Pajeda's Onion Rings

References

External links

Axium Foods official websitePajeda's website
Brand name snack foods Food and drink companies of the United States Companies based in Winnebago County, Illinois Privately held companies based in Illinois

History

Environmental sustainability

Products

See also

References

External links