Make Your Mouth (and Your Heart) Happy

Annie D. Whitlock isn’t your average entrepreneur. For one, she’s lived a full life throughout the
South and up and down the East Coast, from Alabama to New Jersey before finally landing on
James Island. And for another, she created a product so special and delicious that her frozen
chicken patties are beloved by preschoolers and parents alike—and are even USDA certified.
It’s also likely she’s never met a mouth she didn’t want to feed. Trust us: at a recent Fig Magazine launch party, the very first thing she did after meeting us was offer to send us some of her chicken patties. That’s Annie in a nutshell.

“I’ve been in business since July 22, 2011,” says Whitlock. “My mission is to grow my business
so people will get the quality products and services that Addielee’s Kitchens Catering LLC offers
to its customers. I want people to know that they will get something healthy and delicious every
time they get Addielee’s Gourmet Chicken Patties.”

But why chicken patties? It’s simple. “The inspiration for my business was Little Stars Daycare Center in East Orange, New Jersey,” Whitlock says. The daycare is owned by her daughter, and Whitlock often cooked fried chicken for the children there. “I love children. Not just Little Stars’, but all children. And the children there loved my fried chicken.”

It was Whitlock’s daughter who suggested they create something a little healthier, joking that she didn’t want her mother to “give the children cholesterol.” Whitlock got to work creating chicken patties that deliver all the flavor kids love in a healthier package.

Just how delicious are they?

Whitlock recalls hosting a cook-and-taste event at a Piggly Wiggly in Knightsville when a little
girl, about four years old, sampled one of Addielee’s Gourmet Chicken Patties. “She looked at
me and said, ‘Where have you been all my life?'” Whitlock remembers with a laugh. “Everyone
within earshot had a good laugh. I wanted to make a commercial.”

Today, Whitlock’s motto is simple: “Make your mouth happy.” Judging by the smiles she’s been serving for more than a decade, she’s doing exactly that. Whether she’s feeding preschoolers, families gathered around the dinner table, or first-time customers at a tasting event, Whitlock has built her business around one simple idea: good food has a way of bringing people together.

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