Spread the Word

According to “Peanut Butter Production in the US,” a 2013 report from IBS Worldwide (with its Americas regional headquarters in Folsom, Calif.), revenues within the U.S. peanut butter production industry grew 7.9 percent per year, on average, during the five years to 2013, reaching $1.5 billion. Actual volume, however, increased only slightly during the same time period.

The reason for the disparity between dollar and volume sales? Peanut butter is a consumer staple that does not experience wild fluctuations in demand, even during recessions, IBS notes. The revenue increases, therefore, are largely tied to an increase in the price of peanuts.

Trends with traction

Still, a bit of flavor excitement might be behind the modest volume gains. IBS notes that many new products have been introduced to the market in recent years that go beyond the traditional smooth and chunky peanut butter varieties. Largely spurred by the popularity of Italian chocolate hazelnut spread Nutella, all major U.S. peanut butter producers have developed chocolate-flavored products in recent years, the market research firm says. And small independent producers have seized this opportunity to capture a niche market by releasing even more creatively flavored peanut butters.

And that flavor excitement also has spilled over into a significant — and still growing — subset of nut butters that contain no peanuts whatsoever. In a recent blog post on Wegmans Food Markets’ website, Jennifer Felice, RD, notes that blended nut and seed varieties outside of peanut butter have been gaining in popularity in recent years. She points to four such butters the Rochester, N.Y.-based company recently introduced under its Wegmans Organic brand in response to increased consumer demand: smooth almond butter, crunchy almond butter, creamy cashew butter, and tahini butter.

Trends on the horizon

One emerging trend within the peanut butter category that could really take hold in the years to come is that toward better-for-you formulations.

And Wonder Natural Foods, Watermill, N.Y., is one company that’s ready to respond to demand here. The company’s Better’n Peanut Butter product, available for private labeling, is all-natural and contains 85 percent less fat and 40 percent fewer calories than traditional peanut butter. It is made with real peanuts and available in Original, Chocolate, Banana, Low Sodium, Hot Pepper and Maple Bacon varieties. Also notable is the fact that the products are pasteurized to prevent contamination with salmonella, bacteria that are problematic within the peanut butter category, says a spokesperson for Wonder Natural Foods.

Another potential trend could be that toward marketing peanut butter as an aid in breast cancer prevention. A recently completed long-term study from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Harvard Medical School found that girls aged 9 to 15 who regularly ate peanut butter or nuts were 39 percent less likely to develop benign breast disease by age 30. Benign breast disease, although non-cancerous, increases the risk of breast cancer later in life, the researchers explain.