Having a jar of peanut butter in the cupboard seems to be essential for the American way of life. Moms everywhere use it to whip together a meal that kids will enjoy. As those kids grow older, they make their own PB&J sandwiches as after-school snacks. Then, the jars of nutty goodness follow them to college dorm rooms as late-night fuel for midterm exams. When they have children, the cycle continues. It seems ingrained in our way of life.
While cultures all over the world have used peanuts and spreads, peanut butter is said to have started in America. As the story goes, in 1890, an unknown St. Louis physician supposedly encouraged the owner of a food products company, George A. Bayle Jr., to process and package ground peanut paste as a protein substitute for people with poor teeth who couldn't chew meat. Bayle used a meat grinder and sold peanut butter out of barrels for about 6 cents per pound. Around the same time, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg used peanut butter as a vegetarian source of protein for his patients. He and his brother, W.K. Kellogg, earned a patent for the "Process of Preparing Nut Meal" in 1895. However, they soon turned to cereals and left the nut butter business.
Peanut butter was not gone, however. C.H. Sumner introduced peanut butter to the world at the Universal Exposition of 1904 in St. Louis by selling it at his concession stand. Krema Products Co. in Columbus, OH, began selling peanut butter in 1908 and is the oldest peanut butter company still in operation today. In 1922, Joseph L. Rosefield received the first patent for a shelf-stable peanut butter. The oil he used didn't separate from the peanut butter, so the product could stay fresh for up to one year. Jif, the most popular brand of peanut butter today, was introduced by Procter & Gamble in 1958.
Since then, a lot has changed; peanuts are no longer the only nut butters on the block. Natural products stores carry almond, cashew, walnut, hazelnut, pecan and pistachio butters made with natural ingredients that are healthier than the conventional peanut butters from childhood. Instead of high-fructose corn syrup, these butters are mostly sweetened with cane juice, agave syrup or other natural sweeteners. And, instead of using partially hydrogenated vegetable oils to create a longer shelf life, many nut butters use palm oil, which is natural, but does not separate from the butter.
Some nut butters even carry functional ingredients, like omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs)—usually in the form of flaxseeds—and come in a variety of flavors, including maple, cinnamon, chocolate and honey. Yes, nut butters have changed, but what has stayed the same is consumer love and loyalty.
“There is a relationship with peanut butter and there is an intrinsic consumer behavior to buy it,” said Bob Coyle, marketing team leader, National Peanut Board. “It goes back to the strength of peanut butter in all of our lives. Our research shows more than 80 percent of consumers don’t just like the taste of peanut butter, they actually love it. I think it has a huge place in people’s minds and obviously in their stomachs.”