Jimmy Dean (brand)

Did You Know?

• On December 12, 2018, Jimmy Dean recalled over 28,000 pounds of sausage possibly contaminated with metal after five consumer complaints.
• CTI Foods labeled ready-to-eat sausage links to be rejected from 21 states during the 2018 recall.
• The USDA did not report any oral injuries from the 2018 recall.

History

Dean founded the Jimmy Dean Sausage brand, originally called "Pure Pork Sausage." The company succeeded partly due to Dean's extemporized, good-humored commercials. In 1980, the first Jimmy Dean Restaurant opened in northwest Columbus, Ohio, followed by another in west Columbus the next year. Three more restaurants opened in 1983 in the Columbus Square shopping center, Oklahoma City, and Indianapolis. Dean sold the company to Sara Lee Corporation in 1984 for $80 million. He remained spokesman after the takeover, though Sara Lee, under John Bryan, began phasing him out of management duties. The restaurants closed in 1985, with Bob Evans Restaurants purchasing four locations. By 2002, Dean was no longer acting as spokesman. After Bryan's death in 2018, the company resumed an advertising campaign featuring Dean, who had died in 2010.

Non-meat items

In January 2021, the Jimmy Dean Sausage Brand added a meatless product: the Plant Based Patty Egg White and Cheese Croissant, using plant-based meat as a substitute. In summer 2021, the company added the Jimmy Dean Delights Plant-Based Patty & Frittata Sandwich, which uses grain and bean substitutes such as quinoa, black bean, and soy to replicate the patty. The sandwich retains the brand's original sausage seasoning for traditional flavor.