Planters


Planters Nut & Chocolate Company is an American snack food company owned by Hormel Foods. Planters is best known for its processed nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them. Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentile for a 1916 contest to design the company's brand icon. The design was modified by a commercial artist and has continued to change over the years.
WWW Official Site

History

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. 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.
In February 2021, Kraft Heinz announced it would be selling Planters and its other nuts businesses to Hormel for $3.35 billion. The transaction was completed on June 7.

Slogans

Advertising taglines have included:
  • "The Nickel Lunch!" – peanuts/peanut bars
  • "Planters is the word for Peanuts"
  • "America is Nuts for Planters"
  • "Everybody Loves a Nut!"
  • "Peanut butter with a crunch"
  • "Relax. Go Nuts."
  • "Put Out the Good Stuff"
  • "Instinctively Good"
  • "Naturally Remarkable"
  • "Deliciously NUT-RITIOUS"
  • "Harness the Power of the Peanut"
  • "A Nut Above"
  • "Become One With the Nut"
  • "It's Nuts How Good They Are"
  • "The Power is in the Peanut"

Products

Discontinued

  • Jumbo Block Peanut Candy
  • Coconut Balls
  • Corn Chips
  • P.B. Crackers
  • P.B. Crisps
  • Peanut Butter Chocolates
  • Peanut Bar
  • Peanut Butter candies
  • Peanut Butter Fudge Cookies
  • Onion Peanuts
  • Garlic Peanuts
  • Dry Roasted Cashews
  • Dry Roasted Peanuts

International

Planters products in Canada, including Planters peanut butter, are made by Johnvince Foods, who licenses the trademark from Kraft Canada.

Vegan and Vegetarian concerns

Some Planters nut products contain gelatin, making them unsuitable for vegetarians or vegans.