Squirrel (peanut butter) facts for kids
Squirrel was a Canadian brand of peanut butter. It was sold for a long time, from about 1915 until around the year 2000. Many Canadians grew up with this brand.
Contents
The Story of Squirrel Peanut Butter
How Squirrel Peanut Butter Started
Squirrel peanut butter first came out in 1915. It was made by a company called Canada Nut Co. Ltd. in Vancouver, British Columbia. For over 25 years, it was mostly sold in Western Canada. Around 1931, Canada Nut Co. made a special part of their company just for peanut products. They called it Squirrel Brand Products.
In 1944, a company named Kelly, Douglas & Co. bought Canada Nut Co. They kept selling Squirrel peanut butter. Later, in 1958, a second factory was opened near Toronto, in a town called Ajax. By 1959, Squirrel peanut butter was sold all across Canada. It was sold through the Nabob Foods Limited part of Kelly, Douglas & Co. This company was connected to George Weston Limited and Loblaw Companies.
Changes in Ownership
In May 1975, George Weston Ltd. sold most of its share in Kelly, Douglas to Loblaws. Then, in 1976, Nabob Foods Ltd. became fully owned by a Swiss company called Jacobs Suchard AG. In June 1981, Nabob Foods Ltd. sold the Squirrel brand to Canada Packers Inc.. Nabob wanted to focus only on its coffee business.
In December 1990, Canada Packers sold the peanut butter business. It was bought by a company called CPC International. CPC decided to keep making Squirrel peanut butter. They also made Skippy peanut butter at a factory in Montreal. This factory was owned by Best Foods Canada Inc., which was part of CPC. In 1997, CPC International split into two new companies: Bestfoods Corp. and Corn Products International, Inc.
The End of Squirrel Peanut Butter
In June 2000, a big company called Unilever bought Bestfoods Corp. This meant Unilever now owned the Squirrel brand in Canada. However, Unilever decided to stop making Squirrel peanut butter. They chose to sell only the Skippy brand instead. This happened even though Squirrel had been around in Canada for much longer.
For a short time, Unilever changed the name of Skippy in Canada to "Skippy the Squirrel." They even put a new picture of a squirrel on the label. Before this, Skippy usually had a picture of a peanut as its mascot. The Skippy brand itself was later removed from the Canadian market in 2017.
What Made Squirrel Peanut Butter Special?
Squirrel peanut butter was famous for one special thing. When you opened a new jar, there was always one whole peanut sitting right on top! This is why their slogan was "The One With The Peanut On Top!" This special peanut was removed when the brand became Skippy.
The brand also had "peanut points." These were points you could collect from the jars. You could then trade these points for different prizes. The mascot for Squirrel peanut butter was a friendly brown squirrel. It wore a green sweater, smiled, and sometimes held a peanut. The famous slogan, "The One With the Peanut on Top," actually came from another brand called York Peanut Butter first. It was later used for Squirrel when Canada Packers bought the brand.
Marketing and Advertising
In the early 1960s, Nabob used a football player named Joe Kapp to help sell Squirrel peanut butter. Joe Kapp played for the BC Lions football team. He helped market Squirrel all over British Columbia. Because of this, he even got the nickname "Peanut butter Joe."
