An
abbreviated history of Peanut Butter
Peanuts have been around a very long time. But we're
not talking about peanuts here, we are talking about
peanut butter. Peanut butter hasn't been around
quite as long as the peanut. Peanut butter started
a little more than 100 years ago in 1890 in America.
Its purpose was a healthy, easy to digest protein
substitute for patients that had troubles eating
meat because of bad or no teeth. Soon after this
a man named George A. Bayle Jr. mechanized the process
of making peanut butter and began selling it and
a patent was given to Abrose W. Straub for a machine
that made peanut butter. This was in 1903. A year
later C. H. Sumner, at the St. Louis Universal Exposition,
had a concession stand and promoted peanut butter
as a health food and this brought peanut butter
out into the light. But it was not until 1922 at
Rosefield Packing Company in Alameda, California
that J. L. Rosefield perfected a process of making
peanut butter that prevented the oil from separating
and made it commercially available to the masses.
He brought it out under the name Skippy and it had
a much creamier texture than the peanut butter up
till then that had a courser texture. After this
many other companies started bringing out their
own brands of peanut butter and peanut butter became
one on America's staple foods. Different
types of Peanut Butter
Nowadays there a many different types of peanut
butter. There is chunky, creamy, no-salt, no-sugar,
and natural. What exactly does natural mean? You
might be thinking that all peanut butter is obviously
natural, and yes, it is. But the main difference
between natural peanut butter and regular commercial
peanut butter is that natural peanut butter is
just ground peanuts (possibly with a bit of oil
and/or salt added) and the peanut oils tend to
separate. Recently, though, there have been some
varieties of natural peanut butter that have alleviated
the separation problem and there are creamy and
crunchy varieties of natural peanut butter as
well. The reason regular commercial peanut butters
don't separate is due to stabilizers (different
chemicals added to the peanut butter to keep it
from separating).
Virginia
Virginias have the largest kernels and account
for most of the peanuts roasted and eaten as in-shells.
When shelled, the kernels are sold as salted peanuts.
Virginias are grown mainly in southeastern Virginia,
northeastern North Carolina and West Texas. Virginia
type peanuts account for about 22 percent of total
U.S. production.
Export
Markets
-
World peanut exports are approximately 1.3 million
metric tons (shelled basis). The major suppliers
to the export market are the U.S., China and
Argentina. Although U.S. peanuts represent approximately
10 percent of world peanut production, the U.S.
has become one of the leading world exporters,
accounting for about one-fourth of world peanut
trade. Other origins, such as India, Vietnam,
and several African countries, periodically
enter the export market, depending upon their
crop quality and world market demand.
- Sixty
percent of U.S. raw peanut exports are destined
for the European Union. The major markets for
peanuts within the EU are the United Kingdom,
the Netherlands (which serves as the primary
port of entry for peanuts) and Germany.
- Demand
in Europe for peanuts has been steady, although
competition within a dynamic snack market has
put considerable pressure on peanuts to compete
with a growing range of products (potato chips,
extruded products, pretzel sticks, etc.). In
addition, quality standards and import requirements
continue to tighten, requiring the implementation
of improved monitoring and quality control standards
at origin.
- Exports
of processed peanuts and specialty peanut products
have steadily increased, representing approximately
25 percent of total U.S. peanut exports by value.
The largest U.S. export market for processed
peanut butter is Saudi Arabia, followed by Canada,
Japan, Germany and Korea. Major snack nut markets
are the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom,
France and Germany.
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