![]() Planters logo, Mr. Peanut, first created by a grade schooler Antonio Gentile in a contest in 1916. | |
Product type | Peanut |
---|---|
Owner | Hormel Foods |
Country | United States |
Introduced | 1906 |
Markets | United States |
Previous owners | Kraft Heinz |
Website | www |
Planters Nut & Chocolate Company is an American snack food company now owned by Hormel Foods. Planters is best known for its processed nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them. [1] Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentile for a 1916 contest to design the company's brand icon. [1] The design was modified by a commercial artist and has continued to change over the years.
Planters was founded by Italian immigrant Amedeo Obici in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He started his career as a bellhop and fruit stand vendor in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Obici later moved to Wilkes-Barre, opened his own fruit stand, and invested in a peanut roaster. Obici turned peddler within a few years, using a horse and wagon, and calling himself "The Peanut Specialist". In 1906, Obici entered a partnership with Mario Peruzzi, the soon to be owner of Planters. Peruzzi had developed his own method of blanching whole roasted peanuts, doing away with the troublesome hulls and skins; and so with six employees, two large roasters, and crude machinery, Planters was founded. Amedeo Obici believed that prices and first profits were as important as repeat business, focusing his operation on quality and brand name for continued success. Two years later, the firm was incorporated as Planters Nut and Chocolate Company. By 1913, Obici had moved to Suffolk, Virginia, the peanut capital of the world, and opened the company's first mass production plant and facility there. In 1950, the company created a puzzle called "PLANTERSPEANUTSPUZZLE" and offered prizes for that. [2] It was acquired by Standard Brands in 1960. In 1981, Standard Brands merged with Nabisco Brands, which was acquired by Kraft Foods in 2000. Kraft subsequently merged with the H.J. Heinz Company to form Kraft Heinz in 2015. [3]
In February 2021, Kraft Heinz announced it would sell Planters and its other nuts businesses to Hormel for $3.35 billion. [4] The transaction was completed on June 7. [5]
Advertising taglines have included:
Planters products in Canada, including Planters peanut butter, are made by Johnvince Foods (JVF Canada), who licenses the trademark from Kraft Canada. [7]
As of 2016, Planters has launched into the United Kingdom with a range of 14 products under the tagline "Deliciously NUT-RITIOUS". Planters in the UK is made by Trigon Snacks Trading Ltd. at their factory in Aintree in Liverpool.
Some Planters nut products such as their larger-sized jars of peanuts contain gelatin, making them unsuitable for vegans. [8] [9]
The peanut, also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and large commercial producers. It is classified as both a grain legume and, due to its high oil content, an oil crop. World annual production of shelled peanuts was 44 million tonnes in 2016, led by China with 38% of the world total. Atypically among legume crop plants, peanut pods develop underground (geocarpy) rather than above ground. With this characteristic in mind, the botanist Carl Linnaeus gave peanuts the specific epithet hypogaea, which means "under the earth".
Trail mix is a type of snack mix, typically a combination of granola, dried fruit, nuts, and sometimes candy, developed as a food to be taken along on hikes. Trail mix is a popular snack food for hikes, because it is lightweight, easy to store, and nutritious, providing a quick energy boost from the carbohydrates in the dried fruit or granola, and sustained energy from fat in nuts.
Peanut butter is a food paste or spread made from ground, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, sweeteners, or emulsifiers. Consumed in many countries, it is the most commonly used of the nut butters, a group that also includes cashew butter and almond butter.
Mr. Peanut is the advertising logo and mascot of Planters, an American snack-food company owned by Hormel. He is depicted as an anthropomorphic peanut in its shell, wearing the formal clothing of an old-fashioned gentleman, with a top hat, monocle, white gloves, spats, and cane. He is reported of British heritage and has the proper name of Bartholomew Richard Fitzgerald-Smythe.
Bamba is a snack made of peanut-butter-flavored puffed maize manufactured by the Osem corporation in Kiryat Gat, Israel. Bamba is one of the leading snack foods produced and sold in Israel. It was introduced in 1964. Bamba makes up 25% of the Israeli snack market.
Amedeo Obici was an Italian-born American businessman and philanthropist who founded Planters.
Corn nuts, also known as toasted corn, are a snack food made of roasted or deep-fried corn kernels. It is referred to as cancha in Peru and chulpi in Ecuador.
Beer Nuts is an American brand of snack food building on the original product, peanuts with a sweet-and-salty glazing. According to the manufacturer, the ingredients include peanuts, coconut oil, corn syrup and salt. In the United States, Beer Nuts are a staple of bar snacks and are often referred to as "the quintessential American bar food".
A nut butter is a spreadable foodstuff made by grinding nuts into a paste. The result has a high fat content and can be spread like true butter, but is otherwise unrelated. Nut butters include:
Mixed nuts are a snack food consisting of any mixture of mechanically or manually combined nuts. Common constituents are peanuts, almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts (filberts), and pecans. Mixed nuts may be salted, roasted, cooked, or blanched.
Crunchy Nut is a breakfast cereal made by Kellogg's with flakes of corn, honey, three types of sugar, and chopped peanuts. The product was created by Kellogg's employees at their Trafford Park factory in Greater Manchester and first introduced in 1980.
Koh-Kae is a Thai brand of nut snacks manufacturing by Mae-Ruay Snack Food Factory Co., Ltd. And was first sold in 1976. In its early day Koh-Kae only came in their original flavor, which is coconut cream coated peanuts, but they developed others flavor such as tom-yum and chicken flavor later on. By 2000, Mae-Ruay Snack Food Factory Co., Ltd. was awarded ISO 9001 certification by BVQI Institute, followed by the GMP and HACCP system certification by BVQI in 2002. In year 2019 Koh-Kae holds 50% of Thailand nut snacks market share.
The Lincoln Snacks Company was a manufacturer of caramelized popcorn and popcorn/nut mixes. Lincoln Snacks’ products are produced in Lincoln, Nebraska and sold nationally under the Poppycock, Fiddle Faddle and Screaming Yellow Zonkers (discontinued) brand names. Lincoln Snacks became a subsidiary of ConAgra Foods, Inc. on September 7, 2007.
A candy bar is a type of candy that is in the shape of a bar. The most common type of candy bar is the chocolate bar, including both bars made of solid chocolate and combination candy bars, which are candy bars that combine chocolate with other ingredients, such as nuts, caramel, nougat, or wafers.
The Leavitt Corporation is a manufacturer of nuts and peanut butter, formed by Michael Hintlian in 1925. Its manufacturing facility is in Everett, Massachusetts. Leavitt has about 100 employees.
Honey-roasted peanuts is a salt-, sugar- and honey-flavored peanut snack food that is provided as a mass-produced product line by several nut and snack food companies, such as Planters, The Sun Valley Nut Co, and King Nut.
Big D is a British brand of peanuts and other snack foods primarily sold in pubs. It was introduced in 1967. The brand includes 50g packets of nuts, both carded and tumble. They are distributed within the licensed and retail trade in the UK, and also in Ireland under an agreement with the Irish snack food manufacturer Tayto. The brand's peanut varieties include salted, dry roasted, bird's eye chili and honey roasted. The brand also includes salted cashews and smoked almonds. A range of shelf keeping units are also provided for various occasions and channels of trade.
NUTmobile is a series of automobiles shaped like a peanut owned by Kraft Heinz which are used to promote and advertise Planters products in the United States. The first version was created in 1935. Drivers of the NUTmobile are known as “Peanutters”. Nine "Peanutters" are selected to drive three Nutmobiles across the country in the given year. These brand representatives are typically recent college graduates with degrees in advertising, marketing, public relations, and communications. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a history of recruiting students with representatives in 2014-2015, 2016-2017, 2018–2019, and 2019-2020. During the year, "Peanutters" travel across the country giving out peanut samples, Mr. Peanut memorabilia, and other products from the Planters brand. The program is based in Madison, WI and "Peanutters" go through two weeks of 'Peanut Prep' where they learn about speaking on behalf of the Planters brand, Planters history, and learn to drive the vehicles. Mr. Peanut also accompanies the "Peanutters" and is present at each event they attend offering photos, autographs, and hugs to interested customers.
Ingredients: Peanuts, contains 2% or less of: sea salt, spices (contains celery), dried onion, dried garlic, paprika, natural flavor, sugar, gelatin, torula yeast, cornstarch, dried corn syrup, maltodextrin.