Skippy (peanut butter)

Last updated

Skippy
Product type Peanut butter
Owner Hormel Foods
Country United States
Introduced1932;93 years ago (1932)
MarketsWorldwide
Previous owners Joseph L. Rosefield
CPC International
Bestfoods Corporation
Unilever
Website www.peanutbutter.com

Skippy is an American brand of peanut butter manufactured in the United States and China. First sold in 1932, [1] Skippy is currently manufactured by Hormel Foods, [2] which bought the brand from Unilever in 2013. [3] It is the best-selling brand of peanut butter in China and second only to the J.M. Smucker Company's Jif brand worldwide. [4]

Contents

Brand name

The name "Skippy" was trademarked in 1925 by Percy Crosby, creator of the popular "Skippy" comic strip (1923–1945), which had been adapted into the 1929 novel Skippy, the daytime children's radio serial Skippy (1932–1935), and the Oscar-winning 1931 film Skippy .

In 1932, the Alameda, California food packer Joseph L. Rosefield began to sell Skippy. [5] Crosby successfully had the trademark invalidated in 1934. Rosefield persisted using the name and after Crosby was committed to an asylum and after the passage in 1946 of the Lanham Act, Rosefield was granted rights to the trademark. [6] Crosby's family repeatedly attempted to fight the company's use of Skippy.

Product

In 1955, Rosefield sold the brand to Best Foods. [7] Its successor companies, most recently Unilever and Hormel, claim rights to the trademark over the objection of Crosby's heirs, and much litigation has occurred on this point over the decades, some of which has continued into the 2000s. [8] [9] [10] [11]

Skippy is sold in many different sizes, including a 4-pound (1.8 kg) jar, known as the "Family Jar". In late 2000, Skippy reduced their standard jar size from 18 ounces (510 g) to 16.3 ounces (460 g) by adding a "dimple" in the bottom of the jar while retaining the jar's height and diameter. [12]

Hormel discontinued the sale of Skippy peanut butter in Canada in 2017 due to declining profitability. The product is still sold in 60 countries, including China and the U.K. The Canadian recipe was slightly different, using 1-3 grams less sugar per jar than the U.S. version. [13]

Production

Skippy has factories in Little Rock, Arkansas, [14] and Shandong Province, China. [4] About 750,000 pounds (340,000 kg) of peanuts are brought daily to the Skippy Peanut Butter plant in Little Rock, Arkansas, resulting in over 3,500,000 pounds (1,600,000 kg) of peanut butter produced each week. [15]

There are 14 different varieties of Skippy Peanut Butter Spread. [16]

Skippy is also available in a 6 oz. squeeze pack in Creamy or Natural Peanut Butter Spread and 1.15 oz. individual squeeze 8 packs in Creamy or Natural Peanut Butter Spread. [8]

In 2018, Skippy added Skippy P.B. Fruit Bites [17] to their Skippy P.B. Bites that were already available in Double Peanut Butter, Pretzel and Graham Cracker.

On September 12, 2018, Skippy announced a new line of Skippy P.B. & Jelly Minis in Peanut Butter & Grape Jelly, Natural Peanut Butter & Grape Jelly and Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jelly. [18]

Nutrition

Skippy Peanut Butter is cholesterol-free and gluten-free. It contains sugar and hydrogenated vegetable oil (cottonseed, soybean and rapeseed oil) to prevent separation. [19]

All varieties of Skippy Peanut Butter are also kosher except the Skippy P.B. bites. [8]

References

  1. ↑ Michaud, Jon (November 28, 2012). "A Chunky History of Peanut Butter". The New Yorker. ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  2. ↑ Hormel. "SKIPPY® Brand". www.hormelfoods.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  3. ↑ Hormel (January 31, 2013). "Hormel Foods closes acquisition of U.S. Skippy® peanut butter business". www.hormelfoods.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Isidore, Chris (January 3, 2013). "Spam maker buys Skippy peanut butter". CNN Money. CNN. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  5. ↑ Cronin, Brian (March 12, 2009). "Comic Legends Revealed". #198 (column), ComicBookResources.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Skippy v. Skippy: The Great Peanut Butter Trademark Wars". Trademark and Copyright Law Blog .com. March 3, 2014. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  7. ↑ Krampner, Jon (2014). Creamy and Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, the All-American Food. Google Books: Columbia University Press. p. 86. ISBN   978-0-231-16233-3.
  8. 1 2 3 Skippy.com website
  9. ↑ "The Sad Song of Skippy". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  10. ↑ Tibbetts, Joan Crosby (1998). "Prologue". Skippy, Inc. Archived from the original on September 11, 2010.
  11. ↑ Turley, Hugh (April 2009). "A Tale of Two Cartoonists". Hyattsville Life and Times. Hyattsville, Maryland. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010 – via DCDave.com.
  12. ↑ Hirsch, Jerry (November 9, 2008). "Objects in store are smaller than they appear". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  13. ↑ Harris, Sophie (May 3, 2017). "Skippy peanut butter no longer for sale in Canada; fans stockpiling last jars". CBC News. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Success is peanuts for skippy facility: the sole packager of a Unilever flagship brand uses hard work and flexibility to adapt to new demands". Food & Drug Packaging. May 2004.
  15. ↑ "Success Story - Skippy". Metro Little Rock Arkansas.
  16. ↑ "All Products".
  17. ↑ "Hormel Foods Launches Skippy P.B. Fruit Bites". Hormel Foods. August 3, 2018.
  18. ↑ "The Makers of Skippy Peanut Butter Introduce New P.B. & Jelly Minis". Hormel Foods. September 12, 2018.
  19. ↑ SKIPPY® Creamy Peanut Butter
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