Smucker’s

The J.M. Smucker Company is best known for creating jam products that go great with peanut butter, but they also make syrups, fruit preserves, and ice cream toppings. The company has been around since the mid-1800s, and they have been making excellent jellies, jams, and toppings for most of its history of the company.

If you love a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or you want a fruit-flavored syrup for your pancakes in the morning, there is nothing like a Smucker’s product to fill this need. Anyone who loves these kinds of food items has probably been a lifelong fan of Smucker’s and all of their various kinds of delicious products. Smucker’s actually owns a huge array of products, including Jif, Milk Bones, and Folgers Coffee. They are still best known for their jams and jellies, and many consumers think of these products first when the Smucker’s brand is mentioned.

History

The J.M. Smucker Company was founded in 1897. Jerome Smucker was a farmer in Orrville, Ohio, who built a cider mill on his family farm. The company came to life when the family started to make jellies, jams, and other kinds of similar products from local apples. One of the first products that the company was known for was the apple butter that Smucker sold out of a horse-drawn wagon. The apples that were used to make this apple butter were actually from Johnny Appleseed’s trees that were planted in the early 19^th century.

By the time the company was incorporated in 1921, there was a complete list of jams, jellies, and preserves that were being sold under the Smucker’s label. By the mid-1930s, the products that were made by the company were so popular that the company extended operations, opening a fruit-processing plant in the state of Washington. Products were eventually shipped worldwide, beginning in 1942. There are few jam and jelly companies that sell internationally, like Smucker’s, or that sell such a wide array of different products in various markets.

During WWII, Smucker’s was able to stay afloat, sending apple butter to the troops overseas, even if the necessary glass, sugar, and fruit ingredients needed for most of their products were unavailable. The company was given the designation “US Grade A Fancy” during the war because the Smucker family paid the US Department of Agriculture inspectors to come to oversee all of the various parts of the production process.

Partially due to the changes that took place in the company during the war, Smucker’s diversified in the 60s and started to sell peanut butter, as well as a variety of other products. Since there were many new products in the company lineup, a new slogan was used for ads.

The tagline, “With a name like Smucker’s, it has to be good,” became synonymous with the good and reasonably healthy products that the Smucker’s brand stood for. This slogan is still used by the company today, and many of the products that were popular in the earliest years of the company’s existence are still sold under the Smucker’s name.

Many of the more diverse products that Smucker’s is known for were actually purchased from other entities and rolled into the Smucker’s brand. The Magic Shell ice cream products were purchased from Magic Shell, and the gourmet jam brand Dickinson’s was added to the stable in 1979. Smucker’s also bought a pickle company in the early 1980s that they later sold due to lackluster profits. They took the profits from this sale and bought the juice company Knudsen & Sons, which opened up other options for new jam and jelly products.

Among the most creative and popular products that have performed well for Smucker’s is their Goober product. This is a jar of striped peanut butter and jam that allows people to mix up their own peanut butter and jelly out of one jar. These products have been around since the 1960s and continue to be one of the most popular of the Smucker’s brand’s lineup.

This creative product was added to the company’s stable shortly after it started selling peanut butter. The first peanut butter products were added in 1965 and were as big a hit as many of the other toppings and sandwich fixings that Smucker’s was already selling. 

Many people know about Smucker’s solely from buying their jams and jellies. However, there are just as many people who are aware of the company due to the ice cream toppings and spreads that the company sells. Still, other consumers are only aware of the syrup products that the company sells. This company has such a diverse list of products that are in the stable, and they have even diversified to buy up the brands that make Milk Bones and other dog treat products.

Today, Smucker’s is one of the few companies that sells jam and jelly products internationally. The company headquarters are still in Ohio. There are few American companies in this space that can boast of such a diverse list of products that are sold in so many countries. There are also few companies that have been around for so many years without changing hands repeatedly. Smucker’s is one of the most unique companies in the food sales industry, and you might count numerous of their products among your favorite foods.

Smucker’s Products

Peanut Butter products:

• Natural Chunky Peanut Butter
• Natural Creamy Peanut Butter
• Natural Creamy Peanut Butter With no Salt Added
• Organic Chunky Peanut Butter
• Organic Creamy Peanut Butter
• Goober Grape PB & J Stripes
• Goober Strawberry PB & J Stripes

Ice Cream Toppings:

• Magic Shell Caramel Topping
• Magic Shell Chocolate Fudge Topping
• Magic Shell Chocolate Topping
• Magic Shell Unicorn Ice Cream Topping
• Microwavable Hot Caramel Topping
• Microwaveable Hot Fudge Topping
• Simple Delight Hot Fidge
• Simple Delight Salted Caramel
• Butterscotch
• Caramel
• Chocolate Fudge
• Hot Caramel
• Hot Fudge
• Marshmallow
• Pineapple
• Strawberry
• Peanut Butter
• Sugar-Free Caramel Topping
• Sugar-Free Hot Fudge Topping
• Sugar-Free Caramel Sundae Syrup
• Sugar-Free Chocolate Sundae Syrup
• Butterscotch Sundae Syrup
• Caramel Sundae Syrup
• Chocolate Sundae Syrup
• Strawberry Sundae Syrup
• Sugar-Free Caramel Sundae Syrup
• Sugar-Free Chocolate Sundae Syrup

Syrups:

• Blueberry
• Red Raspberry
• Strawberry
• Sugar-Free Breakfast Syrup

Fruit Spreads:

• Natural Strawberry Fruit Spread
• Natural Concord Grape Fruit Spread
• Natural Red Raspberry Fruit Spread
• Natural Blackberry Fruit Spread
• Strawberry Jelly
• Concord Grape Jelly
• Mixed Fruit Jelly
• Strawberry Jam
• Concord Grape Jam
• Seedless Red Raspberry Jam
• Blackberry Jam
• Strawberry Preserves
• Blueberry Preserves
• Red Raspberry Preserves
• Apricot Preserves
• Simply Fruit Strawberry Fruit Spread
• Simply Fruit Concord Grape Fruit Spread
• Simply Fruit Red Raspberry Fruit Spread
• Simple Fruit Apricot Fruit Spread
• Squeeze Grape Jelly
• Squeeze Reduced Sugar Strawberry Fruit Spread
• Squeeze Strawberry Fruit Spread
• Sugar-Free Seedless Strawberry Jam with Splenda
• Sugar-Free Concord Grape Jam with Splenda
• Sugar-Free Red Raspberry Preserves with Splenda
• Sugar-Free Apricot Preserves with Splenda
• Low Sugar Reduce Sugar Concord Grape Jelly
• Low Sugar Reduced Sugar Strawberry Preserves

Marketing

Smucker’s has been using the same marketing strategies for generations. They have appealed to kids and their parents, and their slogan, “With a name like Smucker’s, it has to be good,” has been the mainstay of the company’s marketing efforts for generations. Recently, the company stated that they are working on modernizing the company’s branding to try and reach out to consumers in a changing market.

The company wants to continue to appeal to parents who care about what their kids eat, and they want to highlight that they have been a trusted brand since the 1800s. The company indicated that they would come up with new slogans and taglines for the entire brand as well as for the specific products within each part of the company.

This might remain a tall order since the company sells so many disparate kinds of products these days. However, Smucker’s has always stood for quality, and they are likely to create marketing plans that are perfect for the current expectations of modern consumers. It doesn’t hurt that their brand is associated with clear purchasing loyalty from many consumers who wouldn’t hear of buying any other kind of syrup, jam, or ice cream topping.

Logo

Ingredients

From the Smucker’s site for their classic strawberry jelly:

• Strawberry Juice
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Corn Syrup
• Fruit Pectin
• Citric Acid

Also, from the Smucker’s site for their Goober Products, which are jars of peanut butter and jam striped inside the jar:

• Ground Roasted Peanuts
• Grape Juice
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Corn Syrup
• Dextrose
• Contains 2% or Less of: Distilled Monoglycerides, Salt, Pectin, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), and Sodium Citrate.

The online listing for Strawberry Syrup on the Smucker’s site:

• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Corn Syrup
• Water
• Strawberries
• Natural Flavor
• Boysenberry Juice (For Color)
• Pectin
• Citric Acid,
• Xanthan Gum

From the Smucker’s site, this listing for Magic Shell in caramel flavor:

• Sugar
• Sunflower Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Milk
• Nonfat Milk
• Contains 2% or Less of: Reduced Mineral Whey (From Milk), Cocoa, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Blue 2 Lake.

Nutrition

Serving Size:	1 tbsp (20g)	% Daily Value*
Amount Per Serving
Calories	50
Total Fat	0g	0%
Sodium	0mg	0%
Total Carbohydrates	13g	5%
Sugars	12g
Added Sugars	9g	18%
Protein	0g

• The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Pictures

Commercials

An ad from the 1970s:

A more recent ad about the company’s history:

An ad from the 90s:

An ad featuring the cast of Peanuts: