Planter Nut & Chocolate Co.

Planters Nut & Chocolate Company

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Snack food manufacturing
Founded	January 1, 1906 (1906-01-01) in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Founder	Amedeo Obici
Headquarters	Wilkes-Barre , United States
Area served	United States, Canada (licensed)
Products	Processed nuts, peanut butter, snack foods
Owner	Hormel Foods
Parent	Hormel Foods
Website	www.planters.com

Planters Nut & Chocolate Company is a U.S.-based snack manufacturer currently under the ownership of Hormel Foods. The brand is widely recognized for its processed nuts and its famous mascot, Mr. Peanut, originally designed by Antonio Gentile in 1916 and subsequently updated to reinforce the company’s brand image.

History

Planters was established by Amedeo Obici, an Italian immigrant entrepreneur, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The company’s origins trace back to Obici’s fruit stand and his investment in peanut roasting. He joined forces with Mario Peruzzi, who invented a blanching technique to remove peanut shells. Together, they launched Planters in 1906, emphasizing premium quality and strong brand reputation as foundational business principles. By 1908, the company was incorporated and, by 1913, it had moved its primary production to Suffolk, Virginia—known as the peanut capital—where it opened its first large-scale manufacturing plant.

Throughout its corporate history, Planters was acquired by Standard Brands in 1960. Later, it became part of Nabisco Brands in 1981 before being purchased by Kraft Foods in 2000. Kraft merged with H.J. Heinz Company in 2015 to form Kraft Heinz.

In a strategic transaction completed on June 7, 2021, Kraft Heinz divested Planters along with its nut-related businesses to Hormel Foods for $3.35 billion, thereby strengthening Hormel’s position in the snack food sector.

Slogans

Over the years, Planters has employed various advertising slogans, including:

• "The Nickel Lunch!" – used for peanuts and peanut bars during the 1930s–1940s
• "Planters is the word for (good) Peanuts" – popular in the 1950s
• "America is Nuts for Planters" – from the 1970s
• "Everybody Loves a Nut!" – adopted in the 1990s
• "Peanut butter with a crunch" – tagline for P.B. Crisps launched in 1992
• "Relax. Go Nuts." – for Deluxe Mixed Nuts in 1997
• "Put Out the Good Stuff" – campaign running from 2003 to 2008
• "Instinctively Good" – introduced in 2007
• "Naturally Remarkable" – used starting in 2011
• "Deliciously NUT-RITIOUS" – slogan for UK products launched in 2016
• "Harness the Power of the Peanut"
• "A Nut Above" – introduced in 2021
• "Become One With the Nut"
• "It's Nuts How Good They Are"
• "The Power is in the Peanut"

Products

Planters offers a diverse range of items including:

• Cocktail Peanuts
• Cooking Oil
• CornNuts (acquired during the late 1990s)
• Chocolate Covered Cashews
• Dry Roasted Peanuts
• Dry Roasted Sunflower kernels
• Honey Roasted Peanuts and Cashews
• Hot Peanuts
• Mixed Nuts
• NUT-rition Heart Healthy Mix
• Salted Cashews and Peanuts
• Salted Redskin Spanish Peanuts
• Tavern Nuts (discontinued but brought back in 2009)
• Smoked Almonds
• Peanut Butter
• Potato Chips
• Various flavored peanuts including Salted Caramel, Cocoa, Chipotle, Chili and Lime, Sea Salt and Vinegar, Heat, Smoked, Sweet N' Crunchy, and Sweet N' Spicy
• Nut Clusters

Discontinued

The following products have been phased out:

• Jumbo Block Peanut Candy
• Coconut Balls
• Corn Chips
• P.B. Crackers and P.B. Crisps (introduced in 1992)
• Peanut Butter Chocolates and Candies
• Peanut Butter Fudge Cookies
• Onion and Garlic Peanuts
• Dry Roasted Cashews and original Dry Roasted Peanuts

International

In Canada, Planters-branded products—including peanut butter—are manufactured by Johnvince Foods (JVF Canada) under a licensing agreement with Kraft Canada, now part of Hormel Foods.

Vegan concerns

Certain Planters nut items, such as larger peanut jars, contain gelatin, rendering them unsuitable for those adhering to a vegan diet.