Little Debbie products were still available at the commissary on Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
Get them while you can because soon there will be no more Zebra Cakes, Swiss Rolls, Nutty Buddies, Fudge Rounds and Oatmeal Creme Pies.
When the remaining stock of Little Debbie snack items is gone, it’s gone for good.
McKee Foods Corp. of Collegedale, Tenn., a family-owned bakery best known for its Little Debbie line, will no longer be providing its products to U.S. military bases at home and overseas.
The regulatory standards required of McKee Foods are too costly to continue supplying the Defense Commissary Agency and Navy Exchange Service, company spokesman Mike Gloekler told Stars and Stripes in an email Thursday.
Representatives of the commissary agency and exchange service were unavailable for comment Friday.
The news did not go down well with Air Force Staff Sgt. Johnathan Garcia, 28, a laboratory technician for the 374th Medical Support Squadron at Yokota Air Base, Japan. He stockpiles Little Debbie treats for his shop, he told Stars and Stripes via Facebook Messenger on Thursday.
“I buy Little Debbie snacks almost every other week,” he said. “My department sells them in our sunshine fund to pay for morale activities and going away gatherings. I’m a little upset because there are really no equivalent products to buy off base while overseas and I really like my Zebra Cakes and Nutty Bars!”
McKee products have been sold in commissaries for many years and the company’s contract for overseas commissary sales has been in place since the 1990s, Gloekler said.
“As supporters of the men and women who serve the United States military this was a very difficult decision for us to make,” he said. “We believe in the mission of forward-deployed troops, and we understand the impact that the comforts of home have on morale. Perhaps some will see an opportunity to streamline federal contractor compliance.”
