Last week we visited the Chelsea Milling company, home of the Jiffy Mix Plant in Chelsea Michigan. With reservations, anyone can schedule a free tour of their factory. The tour could last 1 to 1 1/2 hours depending on the group size. A short 20 minute video is shown, along with a safety film prior to the walking plant tour. The Chelsea Mill was established in 1901 as a traditional flour mill. In 1930, the first Jiffy baking mixes were on the market. Everyone seems to recognize the small blue boxes from their grocery store shelves.
Today, 1.5 million boxes can be packaged daily for shipment around the United States of America in this plant. We toured the packaging plant, and learned a great deal about the products made in this factory. On the tour, visitors are not taken through the flour mill, but guided around the large factory where many product lines are being boxed for home use, or bagged into 50 pound bags for institutional use. A combination of older equipment from the 1950’s and modern computerized equipment can be seen. Workers are busy keeping the process moving while the boxes are being mechanically folded, bag liners are being made, and then the various baking mixes are being filled into the boxes. We watched the individual boxes being sealed and then gathered into cardboard shipment boxes. The equipment is fascinating to watch. The tour was very personal and I felt like I was right on the product lines. An internet virtual tour video is available here: http://www.jiffymix.com/index.php/virtual-tour/
I have used some of the Jiffy mixes over the years, but I have never noted so many different types until my tour last week. Their website has a nice listing of their current products: http://www.jiffymix.com/products.php
After coming home, I baked the banana muffin mix, which made six regular sized muffins. Super delicious!
Watch for the Jiffy mix trucks while travelling on America’s highways. This is a wonderful made in America product.
angel food garden 