US Trends

who created patty pies

Patti LaBelle’s famous “Patti Pies” were created by food buyer and product developer Kinna Thomas , not Patti LaBelle herself.

Quick Scoop

  • The person who actually created the recipe and product concept for Patti LaBelle’s Walmart sweet potato pies is Kinna Thomas , an HBCU graduate from Lane College.
  • She developed the pies while working as a Senior Buyer for Cakes and Pies at Walmart , using her own family sweet potato pie recipe as the base.
  • Patti LaBelle partnered as the celebrity face and collaborator for the dessert line, which helped turn “Patti Pies” into a viral best‑seller.
  • The line has since expanded into other desserts like peach cobbler and banana pudding, but the original creator behind the pies themselves is still Kinna Thomas.

Mini Timeline

  1. Kinna joins Walmart as Senior Buyer for Cakes and Pies and pitches a soul‑food inspired dessert line based on her family recipe.
  1. Within about 24 hours, Walmart connects her with Patti LaBelle to build a branded pie line.
  1. The Patti LaBelle Sweet Potato Pie launches at Walmart, goes viral online, and starts selling tens of thousands of units per day.

So when people ask “who created Patti Pies,” the behind‑the‑scenes answer is: Kinna Thomas created them; Patti LaBelle made them famous.

TL;DR: The “Patti Pies” you see at Walmart were created by Walmart buyer and recipe developer Kinna Thomas , using her family recipe, in collaboration with Patti LaBelle as the brand and star.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.