<P> In 1956, the company bought a company known as Kitchens of Sara Lee, which became one of the company's best - known brand names . Management adopted the brand name as the name of the corporation as a whole in 1985 . As of 2005, Sara Lee Corporation had operations in more than 40 countries; sold food, beverage, and household products in over 180 countries; and had some 137,000 employees worldwide . </P> <P> On July 4, 2012, Sara Lee Corporation was split into two companies--one for North American operations which would be renamed Hillshire Brands (the Sara Lee name would continue to be used on bakery and certain deli products distributed by Hillshire Brands), the other for international beverage and bakery businesses named D.E Master Blenders 1753 . </P> <P> Prior to 1985, The Sara Lee Corporation was called Consolidated Foods, of which Sara Lee was the best known brand . Consolidated Foods had bought a Chicago bakery chain called Kitchens of Sara Lee in 1956 from Charles Lubin . Lubin had named his bakeries after his daughter, Sara Lee . She was born in 1941, and now goes by her married name, Sara Lee Schupf . </P> <P> In 1986, Sara Lee bought the manufacturing and mail order operations of Wolferman's, a maker of English muffins, that dated back to 1888 . </P>

Brand name for the daughter of a chicago bakery chain owner