Annie Withey

Ann E. "Annie" Withey (born 1963 or 1964 ) is an American farmer and entrepreneur. Withey developed Smartfood in 1984 both with her husband at the time, Andrew Martin. with a major in English.

Early life

Born Ann E. Withey, she grew up in Canton, Connecticut as one of three children and both of her parents were teachers. She attended Canton High School.

Early career

In 1984, she developed the cheddar popcorn recipe as a college student in Boston, in her home kitchen.

Annie's Homegrown

Withey and Martin co-founded Annie's Homegrown in 1989, with their most famous product being Annie's Shells & Cheddar. Withey developed the recipe using the dried cheese powder from Smartfood popcorn, which she had been experimenting with in pursuit of an all-natural cheese popcorn recipe. Withey held onto the idea until she sold Smartfood in 1989 to focus on Annie's.

She later married Rob Miller, an organic farmer, and lives on a farm in Hampton, Connecticut, with their two daughters, Molly and Phoebe. She remained in Connecticut despite Annie's Homegrown relocating its headquarters to Berkeley, California, in 2011. As of 2021, she keeps four cows, seven sheep, a burro, two horses, two flocks of chickens, a dog, and two house rabbits at her early 1900s Victorian-style farmhouse.