As some of you know, I distribute a number of brands including Chef Jay Protein Bars and Cookies. So I was shocked when I received word that the owner, Jay, passed away last Friday. I have known Jay since the bar first was made and over the years, he has always been respectful and great to deal with. Each year, at the Arnold Classic, he was there, as well as sometimes at the Olympia.
He started with just a small muffin shop, and built it into company that he was proud of.
Here is more info on Jay:
Jay Allen Littmann, age 48, a 16 year resident of Las Vegas and Henderson, passed away on Friday, February 11, 2011. Jay was born October 16, 1962 in Erie, PA to Michael and Carol Littmann.
Jay attended Newbury College, graduating with honors. He was the owner of Chef Jay's Food Products.
Jay is survived by his wife Monica and sons Jacob and Isaiah Littmann of Henderson; parents Michael and Carol Littmann of Las Vegas; and siblings Barbara (Jorge) Reyes, Ronald Littmann and Eric (Julie) Littmann, all of Las Vegas.
He eventually wrote a book called "How to Get from There to Here: One Man’s Triumph over Addictions, Obesity, and Being Down-and-out".
Jay Littmann became an addict when he was just twelve years old. Thrown out of his home when he was 17, he succumbed to a downward spiral. With stints on the street, in jail, and in rehab, he spent the next 12 years controlled by a bottle or pipe, developing a serious weight problem and diabetes.
In How to Get From There to Here, Littmann details his life of drugs and crime and his turning point, his moment of clarity. He finally got clean for good when he was twenty-nine. Searching for financial independence, he purchased a muffin shop just off the Las Vegas Strip, a move that would dramatically change his life.
When Littmann bluffed his way into a sale of his healthy oat bar to a nationally recognized chain, he had to fill the order for thousands by hand. Thus was born Chef Jay's Food Products, now an internationally recognized brand that sells millions of healthy products each year. Jay has been clean and sober for nearly two decades, is in the best shape of his life, and no longer suffers from diabetes.
Chef Jay's memoir is more than just a story; it's a blueprint for how to succeed even when it seems the chips are stacked against you.
The company will stay on, run by good people that worked for him, but will be strange not seeing him again at our annual Arnold meeting.
