Uncle Ray's
Uncle Ray's is a Detroit-based snack-food brand known primarily for potato chips and a broad range of packaged salty snacks.
Last updated October 14, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile since Oct 28, 2026.
Overview
Uncle Ray's is an American snack-food brand based in Detroit, Michigan. Its product portfolio centers on potato chips, but also includes wavy potato chips, tortilla chips, pork rinds, popcorn, pretzels, trail corn, onion rings, cheese curls, and other extruded or seasoned snack products. The brand is operated by Uncle Ray's LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the privately held H. T. Hackney Company. The business began in 1965 when Ray Jenkins and Robert Qualls established Cabana Foods in Detroit. Jenkins had grown up in difficult circumstances, left school after the eighth grade, worked in an iron foundry, and later served in the United States Navy as a cook aboard USS Bristol. After returning to Detroit, he entered the food business with limited capital. The first products were not potato chips but items such as popcorn, chip dip, and shrimp cocktail sauce, which Jenkins sold directly to taverns, bowling alleys, and small neighborhood stores from the back seat of a Dodge Dart. The company expanded through acquisitions and manufacturing investments. In 1967, Jenkins purchased Cabana, a pork-skins manufacturer, and began producing extruded corn and cheese snacks. In 1969, the business acquired a 15,000-square-foot facility in Dearborn, Michigan. In 1983, Jenkins bought the former Superior Potato Chip factory on Detroit's west side, giving the company a larger base for potato-chip production. The partnership between Jenkins and Qualls ended after a contentious legal dispute in the early 1990s, with Jenkins continuing as the company's sole owner. Financial pressure subsequently led Jenkins to sell the business to AmeriFoods in 1993. AmeriFoods owned Cabana Foods for approximately two years before selling it back to Jenkins. In 1995, he renamed the company Jenkins Foods and developed the Uncle Ray's potato-chip line. The line entered the market officially in 1998. Uncle Ray's developed a distinctive personal and regional identity around its founder. Beginning in 2000, sections of Jenkins's autobiography, The Life and Times of Uncle Ray, were printed on chip bags, together with a moral lesson and a Bible verse. This packaging approach reflected Jenkins's Christian beliefs and helped differentiate the brand from larger national snack companies. The brand also retained strong ties to Detroit through its manufacturing presence and founder-centered storytelling. In April 2006, Jenkins sold the business to a large privately held company, and Jenkins Foods ceased to be the operating name. The business became Uncle Ray's LLC and a wholly owned subsidiary of H. T. Hackney Company. Alongside its branded products, the company has manufactured private-label snacks for other retailers and food businesses. Its distribution expanded beyond Michigan convenience stores into supermarkets, drugstores, discount chains, and other retail channels across the United States. Uncle Ray's products have also been available in selected Canadian outlets, including Canadian Tire gas stations. The company reported expansion during the mid-2010s while continuing to manufacture in Detroit. From 2016 through 2021, Uncle Ray's held a partnership with Minor League Baseball as its official potato-chip brand. The arrangement placed its products in more than 70 minor-league ballparks and was extended in 2018 for a further three years. In 2019, the partnership also supported an Uncle Ray's Player of the Month Award. The baseball relationship gave the brand national sports visibility while reinforcing its position as an accessible, regional-style packaged snack. Uncle Ray's remains an active packaged-food brand with a broad salty-snack assortment. Its identity is built on Detroit roots, value-oriented distribution, founder-led storytelling, and a product range that extends beyond conventional potato chips. The brand's precise current corporate structure, executive leadership, official website, and present-day distribution footprint are not established by the supplied reference material.
History
Uncle Ray's traces its origins to 1965, when Ray Jenkins and Robert Qualls founded Cabana Foods in Detroit. Jenkins's earlier life shaped the character of the business: he grew up in poverty, left school in the eighth grade, worked in an iron foundry, served in the U.S. Navy, and worked as a cook aboard USS Bristol. After returning to Detroit, he began selling food products directly to local businesses. With approximately $150, he and Qualls initially offered chip dip, popcorn, and shrimp cocktail sauce to taverns, bowling alleys, and small stores, using Jenkins's Dodge Dart for distribution. The company moved into snack manufacturing through a series of acquisitions and facility investments. In 1967, Jenkins bought Cabana, a producer of pork skins, for $1,200. The acquisition enabled the company to add extruded corn and cheese products. Two years later, the business acquired a 15,000-square-foot plant in Dearborn, Michigan. In 1983, Jenkins expanded again by purchasing the former Superior Potato Chip factory on Detroit's west side. The founders' partnership ended in a legal dispute that concluded in the early 1990s. Jenkins continued as the sole owner, but debt associated with the business led him to sell it to AmeriFoods in 1993. AmeriFoods retained the company for about two years and then sold it back to Jenkins. In 1995, Jenkins renamed the operation Jenkins Foods and began developing the Uncle Ray's brand. Uncle Ray's potato chips were formally introduced in 1998. Jenkins made his own life story part of the brand's identity. From 2000, selected chapters of his autobiography, The Life and Times of Uncle Ray, appeared on chip bags, accompanied by moral lessons and Bible verses. The packaging reflected Jenkins's Christian faith and gave the product a distinctive founder-led voice. The company continued to combine potato chips with other snack categories, including popcorn, pork rinds, cheese products, and extruded corn snacks. In April 2006, Jenkins sold the business to a large privately held company. Jenkins Foods was dissolved as the operating name, and the operation became Uncle Ray's LLC. It was subsequently established as a wholly owned subsidiary of H. T. Hackney Company. Uncle Ray's also produced snacks for private-label customers, including products associated with retailers such as Winn-Dixie. Its branded products expanded from Michigan convenience stores into national drugstore, grocery, and discount channels. The brand also reached selected Canadian retail locations. The company retained a Detroit manufacturing presence during the 2010s. Reference material describes growth between 2014 and 2016 and a workforce concentrated at its west Detroit facility. In 2016, Uncle Ray's entered a promotional and distribution partnership with Minor League Baseball, becoming the organization's official potato-chip brand. Its snacks were sold at more than 70 minor-league ballparks. The agreement was extended in 2018 for three years, and the relationship included a Player of the Month Award in 2019. The supplied material indicates that the baseball arrangement continued through 2021. Uncle Ray's has also appeared in popular culture: its chips were featured in the 2005 film The Upside of Anger, a movie set in Detroit. The brand remains associated with Detroit manufacturing, accessible salty snacks, and a wide product range that includes potato chips, wavy chips, tortilla chips, pork rinds, popcorn, pretzels, trail corn, onion rings, and related snack foods. Current executive leadership, exact headquarters details beyond Detroit, current ownership arrangements within H. T. Hackney, and a verified official website are not specified in the available reference material.
- 2021
End of stated Minor League Baseball term
[1]The reference material identifies 2021 as the end of the three-year extension of the brand's Minor League Baseball relationship.
- 2019
Player of the Month promotion
[1]The brand participates in an Uncle Ray's Player of the Month Award through its Minor League Baseball partnership.
- 2018
Baseball partnership extended
[1]The Minor League Baseball agreement is extended for three additional years.
- 2016
Minor League Baseball partnership begins
[1]Uncle Ray's becomes Minor League Baseball's official potato-chip brand, with products sold at more than 70 ballparks.
- 2006
Acquisition by H. T. Hackney
[1]The business is sold to a large privately held company and becomes Uncle Ray's LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of H. T. Hackney Company.
- 2005
Brand appears in The Upside of Anger
[1]Uncle Ray's chips appear in the Detroit-set film The Upside of Anger.
- 2000
Founder autobiography added to packaging
[1]Chips bags begin carrying chapters from Ray Jenkins's autobiography, along with moral lessons and Bible verses.
- 1998
Uncle Ray's potato chips launched
[1]The Uncle Ray's potato-chip line is officially introduced to the market.
- 1995
Jenkins Foods name adopted
[1]After reacquiring the business, Jenkins changes the company name to Jenkins Foods.
- 1993
Business sold to AmeriFoods
[1]Jenkins sells the debt-burdened business to AmeriFoods and retires.
Products and positioning
A Detroit-rooted, value-oriented American salty-snack brand with a broad assortment, regional heritage, founder-centered storytelling, and distribution spanning convenience, grocery, drug, discount, sports, and selected private-label channels.
Potato chips · 1998
Potato chips
The core Uncle Ray's product line and the category most closely associated with the brand. The chips helped establish the brand nationally beyond its Detroit base and have been sold through convenience stores, grocery retailers, drugstores, discount chains, sports venues, and other distribution channels.
Potato chips
Wavy potato chips
A ridged variation within the potato-chip portfolio. Wavy chips extend the brand's main offering with a different texture suited to dipping and flavored snack applications.
Corn snacks
Tortilla chips
Corn-based tortilla snacks included among the brand's broader salty-snack products. They complement the potato-chip range and allow Uncle Ray's to compete in another major packaged-snack segment.
Pork snacks · 1967
Pork rinds
Pork-rind products connect the current portfolio with the company's earlier manufacturing history. Uncle Ray's entered this category after Jenkins acquired Cabana, a pork-skins manufacturer, in 1967.
Popped snacks · 1965
Popcorn
Popcorn was among the first foods sold by Jenkins and Qualls when the business began in 1965. It remains part of the brand's diversified snack assortment.
Baked snacks
Pretzels
Pretzels broaden the portfolio beyond fried and extruded snacks and give the brand a conventional baked-snack offering.
Corn snacks
Trail corn
Trail corn is part of the brand's corn-based snack range, alongside tortilla chips and other extruded products.
Extruded snacks
Onion rings and cheese curls
These products represent Uncle Ray's broader extruded-snack business. The company began producing corn and cheese snacks during its early expansion and later maintained a portfolio of familiar convenience-store snack formats.
Marketing campaigns
- 2019Uncle Ray's Player of the Month Award
United States
The brand supported a Player of the Month Award as part of its Minor League Baseball relationship.
Outcome. The promotion extended the partnership beyond product sales into player recognition and league-related engagement.
- 2016Minor League Baseball official potato chip partnership
United States
Uncle Ray's partnered with Minor League Baseball and became its official potato-chip brand. Products were sold at more than 70 minor-league ballparks.
Outcome. The partnership increased sports-related visibility and connected the brand with ballpark snack consumption.
- 2000The Life and Times of Uncle Ray packaging
United States
The brand printed installments from Ray Jenkins's autobiography on chip bags, together with moral lessons and Bible verses. The program used founder storytelling and religious messaging to create a distinctive package identity.
Outcome. The packaging reinforced the brand's personal, faith-oriented, and Detroit-rooted identity.
Brand decisions
2016
Enter sports marketing through Minor League BaseballStrategyBackground
The brand sought broader visibility while maintaining a presence in convenience, grocery, drugstore, and discount retail.
Action taken
Uncle Ray's entered a partnership with Minor League Baseball as the organization's official potato-chip brand.
Aftermath
The agreement placed products in more than 70 ballparks and was later extended for three years.
2006
Sell the business to a private ownerM&ABackground
Ray Jenkins had previously sold the company to AmeriFoods in 1993, reacquired it, and operated it as Jenkins Foods.
Action taken
In April 2006, Jenkins sold the business to a large privately held company; it became Uncle Ray's LLC and a wholly owned subsidiary of H. T. Hackney Company.
Aftermath
The business continued under the Uncle Ray's name while gaining the backing and distribution relationship of H. T. Hackney.
1998
Launch the Uncle Ray's potato-chip lineProduct launchBackground
After reacquiring the business and renaming it Jenkins Foods, Ray Jenkins developed a consumer-facing brand around his own name and persona.
Action taken
The Uncle Ray's potato-chip line was formally introduced to the market.
Aftermath
Potato chips became the principal product associated with the business and the foundation of its later retail expansion.
1967
Expand into manufactured snack productsStrategyBackground
The original business sold items such as chip dip, popcorn, and shrimp cocktail sauce through direct local distribution.
Action taken
Ray Jenkins acquired Cabana, a pork-skins manufacturer, and added extruded corn and cheese products.
Aftermath
The move established the manufacturing base and category breadth that later supported the Uncle Ray's snack portfolio.
Recent events
- 2019
Uncle Ray's Player of the Month Award introduced[1]
Campaign · Other
The Minor League Baseball relationship included an Uncle Ray's Player of the Month Award.
- 2018
Minor League Baseball partnership extended[1]
Campaign · Other
The brand's official potato-chip partnership with Minor League Baseball was extended for an additional three years.
- 2016
Uncle Ray's becomes Minor League Baseball's official potato chip[1]
Campaign · Other
Uncle Ray's entered a partnership with Minor League Baseball, with its products distributed at more than 70 minor-league ballparks.
Sources1 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/uncle-rays · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled