Peanut Butter & Co. facts for kids

Peanut Butter & Co. is a popular brand that makes many kinds of peanut butter. It started in New York City in 1998. For many years, the company had a special sandwich shop in a neighborhood called Greenwich Village. This shop sold delicious gourmet peanut butter sandwiches. Today, the company mainly sells its different flavors of peanut butter in grocery stores across the United States.

The Story of Peanut Butter & Co.

How It All Began

The former Peanut Butter & Co. sandwich shop in New York City.

The person who started Peanut Butter & Co. is Lee Zalben. He opened the first sandwich shop in New York City on December 21, 1998. Lee has said that he loved peanut butter ever since he was a child, which inspired him to start the company.

From 1998 to 2016, the company ran its special sandwich shop in Greenwich Village. The menu was mostly about peanut butter sandwiches and other foods made with peanut butter. You could buy gourmet peanut butter sandwiches for $5. There were many different kinds of sandwiches, with ingredients like bacon, honey, banana, and even grilled chicken.

Growing the Brand

In 2003, Peanut Butter & Co. started selling its products in stores. They offered ten different kinds of peanut butter in the US and Canada. You could find their jars in big supermarkets like Kroger, Safeway, Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods.

In 2005, the company published The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook. This book is full of recipes that show you how to use peanut butter in many creative ways. A famous comedian, Jerry Seinfeld, even wrote the introduction for the book! By 2010, the sandwich shop was serving about 100,000 people every year. The New York restaurant closed in 2016, but the brand still sells its popular jarred peanut butters today.

What They Sell

Peanut Butter & Co. sells many different products. These include various types of peanut butter, spreads, powders, and snack items. By 1999, they were already selling ten "all natural" flavors of peanut butter to supermarkets. These peanuts came from farmers in the United States.

A few years later, the company also sold fun flavors like White Chocolate Wonderful and Cinnamon Raisin Swirl. You can find their products in thousands of supermarkets across the country.

Fun Sandwich Creations

When the restaurant was open, they had many interesting sandwich options. You could choose between whole or white bread, crunchy or smooth peanut butter, and even decide if you wanted the crusts on or off! They also had other classic kid-friendly foods like "ants on a log" and flavored milk.

Some of their past sandwich creations were very unique. For example, "The Heat is On" had spicy peanut butter, grilled chicken, and pineapple jam. Another one called "Movie Night" had M&M's and popcorn!

See also

• List of restaurants in New York City