Investor relations

Frequently Asked Questions

Our Investor Relations team fields a high volume of peanut inquiries. The most common are answered below.

How many peanuts does it take to make a 12-ounce jar of Peanut Butter?

540. Give or take.

What is the requirement for a product to be labeled Peanut Butter?

Glad you asked. By law, a product needs to be at least 90% peanut in order to be called Peanut Butter.

How many gallons of water does it take to produce 1 ounce of peanuts?

We get this one all the time. Peanuts use roughly 3.2 gallons of water to produce 1 ounce of peanuts. Unlike some wasteful nuts (Almonds) which require 28.7 gallons of water per ounce.

What is Bill Clinton's favorite sandwich?

This question keeps us up at night, too. Peanut butter and Banana, which has also been reported to be the favorite of Elvis 'The King' Presley.

In a metric not commonly used, how much Peanut Butter do Americans consume?

Enough to coat the floor of the Grand Canyon.

How many acres of peanuts does it take to produce enough for 35,000 PB&Js?

1.

What is the furthest a peanut has been thrown?

124.4 ft. Which is more than a yard!

How would you describe the preference of peanut enthusiasts from the West to the East Coast when it comes to their butter?

The peanut enthusiasts on the East Coast prefer creamy, while on the West Coast they prefer crunchy peanut butter.

Can peanut butter turn into diamonds in a high pressure environment?

Yes.

Is a peanut, strictly speaking, a nut?

No. It's a legume, in the same family as peas and beans. We don't bring this up at parties, and neither should you.

Where does a peanut spend its formative years?

Underground. The plant flowers above ground, then sends a stalk called a "peg" down into the soil, where the peanut develops in private.

What does the peanut's scientific name, Arachis hypogaea, mean?

Hypogaea means "under the earth." The peanut has never pretended to be anything it isn't.

How long does a peanut flower stay open?

One day. It gets one day. It makes it count.

Does a peanut plant require a partner?

No. Peanut flowers pollinate themselves. A self-starter, which is what we look for in all our hires.

How long does it take to grow a peanut?

Roughly four to five months from planting to harvest. Almond trees take years to produce a single nut. We'll let that sit.

If the peanut is buried, how does a farmer know it's ripe?

They pressure-wash a sample of pods to strip the outer hull and match the color underneath against a maturity chart. Yes, really.

What happens to a peanut right after it's dug up?

The plants are flipped upside down and left to dry in rows in the field for several days. Management considers this a well-earned break.

How many peanuts come in a shell?

Usually two. Valencia peanuts can hold three to five, which the other varieties find a little much.

How many types of peanut are grown in the United States?

Four: Runner, Virginia, Spanish and Valencia. We love them equally. Publicly.

Which peanut ends up in most peanut butter?

The Runner. Unglamorous, dependable, everywhere. The backbone of the portfolio.

Which peanut is the ballpark peanut?

The Virginia. Largest kernels of the four, usually sold roasted in the shell.

Which state is known for Valencia peanuts?

New Mexico. Many natural peanut butters start there.

Do peanuts leave the soil better than they found it?

Yes. As a legume, the peanut pulls nitrogen out of the air and fixes it in the soil. Almond trees declined to comment.

Where did the peanut come from originally?

South America, where it was cultivated thousands of years before anyone thought to put it in a jar.

Has ancient royalty ever worn peanuts?

Yes. The Lord of Sipán, a Moche ruler buried in Peru about 1,700 years ago, was found wearing a necklace of gold and silver peanuts. Early adopter.

Which country grows the most peanuts?

China, then India. The United States is not first. We're working on it.

Which state grows the most peanuts?

Georgia, with roughly half the U.S. crop.

What is Georgia's official state crop?

The peanut, since 1995. Georgia gets it.

What is South Carolina's official state snack?

Boiled peanuts, since 2006. South Carolina also gets it.

Which city calls itself the Peanut Capital of the World?

Dothan, Alabama, home of the National Peanut Festival every fall.

Has a town ever built a monument to thank an insect?

Enterprise, Alabama, in 1919. The boll weevil wiped out the cotton, farmers switched to peanuts, and the town did so well it put up a statue of the weevil.

How tall is the smiling peanut in Plains, Georgia?

13 feet. It was built in 1976 for Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign and is still smiling.

How many U.S. presidents have grown peanuts?

At least two. Jimmy Carter ran the family peanut farm in Plains, Georgia, and Thomas Jefferson grew them at Monticello.

What were Jimmy Carter's campaign volunteers called?

The Peanut Brigade.

Did George Washington Carver invent peanut butter?

No. He developed around 300 other uses for the peanut, which is somehow more impressive.

How long was George Washington Carver given to speak to Congress about peanuts in 1921?

Ten minutes. He spoke for well over an hour. Nobody stopped him. Nobody wanted to.

Who holds the first patent for peanut paste?

Marcellus Gilmore Edson, a Montreal pharmacist, in 1884.

What was Dr. John Harvey Kellogg doing with peanuts in 1895?

Patenting a process to make a peanut paste as a protein source for patients who couldn't chew. Yes, the cereal Kellogg.

Who stopped the oil from separating at the top of the jar?

Joseph Rosefield, who patented a hydrogenation process in 1922 and later founded Skippy.

Where was Planters founded?

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1906, by Amedeo Obici and Mario Peruzzi. Pennsylvania has always been peanut country. Spiritually.

Who designed Mr. Peanut?

A schoolboy named Antonio Gentile, who won a Planters drawing contest in 1916.

Is Mr. Peanut still alive?

It's complicated. He died in a 2020 Super Bowl ad at age 104 and was reborn as Baby Nut. We sent flowers either way.

Which Philadelphia candy has been made since 1917?

Goldenberg's Peanut Chews.

What did Rudolf Diesel run his engine on at the 1900 Paris World's Fair?

Peanut oil. The peanut was in the fuel business before it was cool.

Why do NASA engineers eat peanuts before a big mission?

Luck. After six failed Ranger missions, someone passed out peanuts in mission control for Ranger 7 in 1964. It worked. JPL has been eating them at critical moments ever since.

What is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth called?

Arachibutyrophobia. Our HR department offers support.

Where does the word "goober" come from?

The Kikongo word nguba, carried to the American South by enslaved Africans.

What else have peanuts been called in the South?

Ground peas, goober peas and pindars. The peanut answers to all of them.

Why are the cheap seats called the "peanut gallery"?

In vaudeville theaters, peanuts were sold to the cheapest seats, and when an act went badly, that's what got thrown.

Which song guarantees peanuts at the ballpark?

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game," 1908: "Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack." A binding contract, as far as we're concerned.

Do elephants really love peanuts?

Mostly a circus myth. Wild elephants don't eat them and zoos rarely feed them. We've chosen not to take it personally.

Why fry a turkey in peanut oil?

Its high smoke point, around 450°F. Fry responsibly.

What is a peanut made of?

About half fat and a quarter protein. The rest is ambition.

What happens to all the peanut shells?

Kitty litter, fireplace logs, particle board and animal feed. Nothing is wasted. Take note, almonds.

What gave Smithfield hams their famous flavor?

Historically, hogs fattened on peanuts. The peanut's influence runs deeper than you think.

Did PB&J serve in World War II?

Both peanut butter and jelly were in U.S. military rations. Soldiers put them together, and the sandwich came home a hero.

Can a peanut save a life?

Yes. Peanut-based therapeutic foods like Plumpy'Nut are used worldwide to treat severe malnutrition in children. Honestly, the most important answer on this page.

When is National Peanut Butter Day?

January 24. Mark your calendar.

When is National Peanut Day?

September 13. If you missed it, we noticed.

Are peanuts really the crop of now?

We love that question around here. Yes, yes they are.

Do you sell merchandise?

We do. Shareholders are encouraged to wear their position.

Which peanut butter should I buy?

Consult The Approved Pantry. Our Compliance Department does not make these decisions lightly.

What do you say to people who prefer Almond Butter?

Fuck 'em.