There's a particular kind of kinship that can only exist between people who have devoted themselves to the same small, sacred thing — and for us, that thing has always been the Southern cheese straw.

It is with full hearts — and perhaps a touch of bittersweet — that we at Janis & Melanie (J&M) pause to honor the closing of Mississippi Cheese Straw Factory (MCS). To the Yerger family: thank you. Thank you for the years, the craft, the devotion, and for carrying your mother Bunkie's legacy with such obvious love and kindness.

You see, our story and yours rhyme in a way that has always felt remarkable to us. Both businesses were born more than 35 years ago, sparked by mothers — Bunkie and Jamie — who had a genuine, unshakeable belief that their family's recipe for the Southern staple, cheese straws, deserved to be shared with the world. Both of those mothers built something from scratch, seasoned with patience and pride, and both businesses eventually transitioned into the hands of their children:  Mississippi Cheese Straws to Bunkie's sons, Janis & Melanie to Jamie's children.

The Southern cheese straw world is a small and wonderfully peculiar one. When you've given your life to a family recipe — when you've spent years explaining to people exactly why a cheese straw is not a cheese cracker, not a cheese puff, and NOT a straw you can drink through — you recognize a kindred spirit immediately. Mississippi Cheese Straws and J&M shared that spirit completely.

Like us, MCS offered not just their signature cheese straws, but also an array of variations and cookies — proof that a family recipe business is really about the full expression of home baking at its most generous. We admired their range, their consistency, and the warmth that came through in every interaction we had and every product they sent out into the world.

It takes something special — courage, stubbornness, love, all three at once — to build a small food business and sustain it for over three decades. The Yerger family did exactly that, and the Southern food community is richer for every year Mississippi Cheese Straw Factory was part of it.

We are sorry to see them go. We are grateful they were here. And we send every good wish to the Yerger family as they step into their next chapter — whatever that looks like, we have no doubt it will be undertaken with the same grace and dedication they brought to their buisness.

Cheers, Yerger family. From our family to yours — always.