Nancy Edmonds Hanson

The future of Freddy’s Lefse, a family-owned business begun in 1946, is in doubt unless Michele Cox and her husband Terry can find a buyer in coming months. (Photo/Nancy Hanson)

Uff da! No more Freddy’s Lefsa?

“We’d like to retire. We’re just tired,” says Michele Cox.

She and her husband Terry, who live on a farmstead north of Moorhead, have devoted their entire lives to the soft potato flatbread that Norwegians – and countless converts – find indescribably delicious. Founded by Terry’s parents, Fred and Lorraine Cox, in 1946, the family business has become the region’s premiere provider of the essential treat. Terry and his now-retired brother Barry grew up rolling rounds of lefse with their folks – first in their kitchen and then, as the home-based business grew, in the basement, the garage and finally a small building behind their house.

Now housed in a modern facility in West Fargo, the lefse operation continued to grow. Today Freddy’s is synonymous with lefse in Super Valu and Spartan Nash supermarkets throughout Minnesota and the Dakotas, along with a bevy of independent grocers. A long list of churches, community clubs and Sons of Norway groups count on its delicious rounds of freckled goodness to serve at dinners and bazaars. The real fanatics arrive in ones and two at the company’s door at 176 Main Ave. E. to pick up their own supply when it’s warm and fresh, never frozen, just like Mormor used to make.

But the time has come. The Coxes have been trying for three years to find a buyer for their business, which now employs eight year-round and up to 12 during the holiday season. If they can’t find a new owner by the end of the year, they may be forced to close.

“We’re at an age where we don’t have the energy any more to keep pushing to grow,” Michele admits. “This has been our life. Terry has been doing it for 45 years. I’ve been here for 41. All our kids grew up working here, but they all are doing their own thing.”

The lefse business has been good to the Coxes. “This isn’t a push-button business, though. It is real work,” Michele says. Although Freddy’s frozen lefse is a year-round staple in the freezer case, demand is lighter this time of year; the factory is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday right now from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. When the season of Jul approaches later in the year, it’s a different story – 12-hour days six days a week, all spent insuring that Minnesota and Dakota families will have the delicacy they grew up with on their Thanksgiving and Christmas table.

Michele says she has never figured out just how many fragrant rounds come out off the specially built assembly line in their plant. Their product begins with potato flakes, potato flour, white flour, oil and salt, all churned in an industrial-style mixer. The dough goes to a machine to form it into patties. They’re run through another for flattening and rounding before Terry and another worker finish them off with their rolling pins. From there, each piece scoots through a custom-made stove, where its trip on a moving belt exposes it to just the right amount of heat to make it toothsome but tender.

The Coxes’ realtor has brought in a few interested parties, but been able to strike no deal. They’re approaching the season when bulk orders would have to be placed to handle the Christmas rush. Without a new owner in sight to take over, from sales to wielding rolling pins, the future looks dim.

“I would hate to see this go away,” Michele says. “It’s been a good life and a fun way to make a living. But I’d just like to spend time with my own family during the holidays. I’d love to make Christmas cookies with our grandkids.”