MICHIGAN CITY -- Thousands of pounds of cookies and crackers emerge every day from Michigan City Baking Co., but none bear the name of the company that produces the treats.

This division of the Ohio-based Consolidated Biscuit Company bakes and packages cookies and crackers for a variety of food companies around the world as well as private label brands for retail chain stores.

Consolidated Biscuit Company began in 1963 and now has five manufacturing locations in Ohio, Minnesota, Kentucky and Indiana. The company is an important partner to many of the best food companies in the world, said John Aldrich, vice president of manufacturing at CBC's Ohio headquarters.

More than one million pounds of products are baked in the company's five manufacturing locations each day, company officials said. These include such specialty cookies as wirecuts, rotary molded, crème sandwiches, fruit bars and chocolate enrobed types.

Crackers baked at the CBC locations include graham crackers, cheese squares and a wide variety of snack crackers.

Consolidated Biscuit Company is one of the leaders in developing new and innovative baked foods in the U.S., and many Fortune 500 companies rely on CBC to assist and test a variety of new or changing products, Aldrich said.

By winter's end, Maurice Lenell's popular pinwheel and jelly star cookies will be added to the Michigan City Baking production line. In June of 2008, Consolidated Biscuit purchased the Maurice Lenell company assets and brand names when the Chicago-based Lenell company went bankrupt. Production of these regional favorites should begin at the Michigan City facility in March, Aldrich said.

Three Swedish immigrants launched the Maurice Lenell Cooky Co. in 1937. The familiar logo of a freckle-faced boy emerging from a cookie jar has been a part of the Chicagoland culture for generations. The Lenell company operated a factory and outlet store in Norridge, Ill., from 1956 to its closing on Dec. 28, 2008.

Consolidated Biscuit Co. plans to add new cookies to the Lenell line and broaden marketing of the brand to consumers nationwide, said Roy Jasper, vice president of marketing with CBC. The company also plans to open one or two retail outlets in the Chicago area by this spring, he said.

"It's been a sleepy regional brand that has a lot of loyal customers," Jasper said. "We're going to add product lines to fill voids other manufacturers left by going out of business."