Uncrustables is a $1 billion brand. Now everyone wants in

Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Uncrustables

One of America’s oldest sandwiches is the newest battleground in the freezer aisle.

The humble peanut butter and jelly has been a staple in kitchens for decades, beloved by parents looking to fix a quick meal for their kids. Then the crustless, pre-packaged Uncrustables rolled out in grocery stores in 2000. The product has been an unstoppable force ever since, recently becoming a billion dollar brand for its parent company J.M. Smucker.

But Uncrustables isn’t just a hit with school-age kids. Adults, including pop stars and professional athletes , love the snack. Long-distance runners use them for fuel. Football players are some of the biggest fans, with NFL teams consuming at least 80,000 sandwiches a year.

Now, a wave of challengers, ranging from Trader Joe’s, jelly maker Welch’s to Jams, a better-for-you brand backed by former pro-athlete-turned-ESPN-host Pat McAfee, are all looking to eat into Smucker’s dominance.

Consumers are craving nostalgic flavors and food that is easy and affordable, according to Nate Rosen, consumer package goods analyst and writer of the newsletter Express Checkout .

“Nostalgia, especially for the late 90s and early aughts, has brought back a ton of products and flavors that people know and love from childhood,” he told CNN. “That age group is getting jobs, disposable income and, most importantly, starting to have kids — this is a product they already know and love, and it’s easy for them.”

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How well a brand introduces a new product can determine its success. Rosen points to something fundamental about peanut butter and jelly: The two ingredients “are really easy to understand and intimately ingrained in American culture.”

“You need to reduce the amount of education needed, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich has the least amount of education possible,” he added.

Uncrustables was created in 1995 by David Geske, who owned a packaged ice business, and his friend Len Kretchman. The idea originated from their kids, who wanted a peanut butter and jelly without the crust.

It was a hit with said kids, so their wives suggested they sell the crustless version that focused on the “best part of the sandwich.” The frozen sandwiches were sold at schools across the Midwest before eventually attracting the attention of Smucker in 1999, which bought the brand.

Nearly three decades later, the acquisition is still a major success. Uncrustables hit a major milestone this year, crossing $1 billion in annual sales , the company revealed in June. The brand is an important part of Smucker’s business, especially as it struggles with another, more recent purchase — Twinkies’ maker Hostess — that hasn’t paid off .

Worries over processed foods hasn’t slowed that success, either. The brand added more than 3 million households over the past year and continued distribution into new places, like convenience stores.

“We do expect to continue to see growth in the Uncrustables brand, and that is going to continue to be driven by the breadth of our position in the frozen category,” said CEO Mark Smucker on a June earnings call.

Uncrustables is also expanding its portfolio with new flavors, like blackberry, and adding a refrigerated version as well as higher-protein versions aimed at the breakfast category.

“Those efforts may be helping Uncrustables continue to attract new customers and increase its relevance across different parts of the day,” especially as more competitors hit the shelves, said Michael Gunther, senior vice president of research and market intelligence for Consumer Edge.

So far, sales are up 16% in 2026, marking the fourth consecutive year of double-digit sale increases, according to the firm’s scanning data.

A new batch of brands are hoping to capitalize on the success of Uncrustables.

One notable entrant is Jams, a year-old company that has more protein and less added sugar compared to an Uncrustable. It’s backed by big names in sports, including ESPN’s McAfee as well as soccer star Alex Morgan and Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud. Earlier this year, the brand also partnered with the NFL for a specially designed sandwich to further tap into their obsession.

Sold at Target and Walmart, Jams is taking aim at Uncrustable’s weak spot: digital marketing and partnering with creators for promotion. (Smucker , which has done limited advertising in the past, said it’s planning to spend more on promotion this year.)

Meanwhile, another food giant, Welch’s, is rolling out at Walmart a “Real PB&J” that it says is 50% bigger than an Uncrustable and has about double the protein.

The product was created in response to consumers wanting “a bigger sandwich for bigger appetites, one that actually fills them up,” said Andrew Hartshorn, chief brand and innovation Officer at Welch’s, in a press release .

Welch’s entry into the space is long overdue, considering that they “own the second part in peanut butter and jelly,” Rosen said, but legacy brands move slowly and frozen food is difficult to distribute.

However, Smucker isn’t sitting still as competitors pop up.

The company has taken legal action against the now-defunct Chubby Snacks, defending its patented crimped seal. It’s also embroiled in a lawsuit with Trader Joe’s, claiming that grocery chain’s packaging looks too similar to theirs.

Still, Rosen sees the competitive pressure as a sign of a category that’s fully arrived — 26 years after Uncrustables hit store shelves.

“As more brands enter the market and the conversation grows, a positive feedback loop develops: People say, ‘I want that!’” he said. “So more products appear, and more people buy and think about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Uncrustables

美国最古老的三明治之一，如今却成了冷冻食品区最新的战场。

花生酱和果酱这种朴素的酱料几十年来一直是厨房里的常备食品，深受想要快速为孩子准备餐食的父母们的喜爱。2000年，无边预包装的Uncrustables三明治在超市上市。自此之后，这款产品势不可挡，最近已成为其母公司JM Smucker旗下价值十亿美元的品牌。

但Uncrustables三明治的魅力不仅限于学龄儿童。包括流行歌星和职业运动员在内的成年人也对它爱不释手。长跑运动员会用它来补充能量。橄榄球运动员更是它的忠实拥趸，NFL球队每年至少要消耗8万个Uncrustables三明治。

现在，从 Trader Joe's、果冻制造商 Welch's 到 Jams（一个由前职业运动员、现任 ESPN 主持人 Pat McAfee 支持的更健康的品牌），一波又一波的挑战者都想蚕食 Smucker 的统治地位。

据消费品包装分析师兼通讯《快捷结账》撰稿人内特·罗森称，消费者渴望怀旧口味以及方便实惠的食物。

“怀旧情绪，尤其是对90年代末和2000年代初的怀旧情绪，让许多人们童年时期熟悉且喜爱的产品和口味重新流行起来，”他告诉CNN。“这个年龄段的人正在就业，有了可支配收入，最重要的是，他们开始为人父母——这是他们已经熟悉且喜爱的产品，对他们来说很容易接受。”

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品牌推出新产品的方式能否成功，往往决定了其成败。罗森指出花生酱和果酱的本质在于：这两种原料“非常容易理解，并且深深植根于美国文化之中”。

“你需要减少所需的教育量，而花生酱果冻三明治所需的教育量最少，”他补充道。

Uncrustables 成立于 1995 年，由拥有包装冰块业务的大卫·格斯克和他的朋友伦·克雷奇曼创立。这个想法源于他们的孩子，孩子们想要一份没有面包皮的花生酱果冻三明治。

孩子们非常喜欢这款三明治，于是他们的妻子建议他们推出去边版本，突出“三明治最美味的部分”。这些冷冻三明治在中西部各地的学校销售，最终在1999年引起了斯马克公司的注意，该公司收购了该品牌。

近三十年后，这笔收购依然取得了巨大的成功。该公司在六月份宣布，Uncrustables 今年迎来了一个重要的里程碑，年销售额突破 10 亿美元。该品牌是 Smucker's 业务的重要组成部分，尤其是在该公司近期收购了 Twinkies 的制造商 Hostess，但后者并未取得预期收益的情况下。

尽管人们对加工食品有所担忧，但这并未阻碍该品牌的成功。过去一年，该品牌新增了300多万个家庭用户，并持续拓展新的销售渠道，例如便利店。

“我们预计 Uncrustables 品牌将继续增长，这将继续得益于我们在冷冻食品领域的广泛地位，”首席执行官 Mark Smucker 在 6 月份的财报电话会议上表示。

Uncrustables 也在不断拓展其产品组合，推出黑莓等新口味，并增加冷藏版本以及面向早餐市场的高蛋白版本。

Consumer Edge 研究和市场情报高级副总裁迈克尔·冈瑟表示：“这些努力可能有助于 Uncrustables 继续吸引新客户，并在一天中的不同时段提高其相关性，”尤其是在更多竞争对手涌入货架的情况下。

根据该公司的扫描数据，截至目前，2026 年的销售额增长了 16%，标志着连续第四年实现两位数的销售增长。

一批新的品牌希望能够从 Uncrustables 的成功中获利。

值得关注的是Jams，这家成立仅一年的公司声称其产品比Uncrustable三明治含有更多蛋白质和更少的添加糖。它获得了体育界众多名人的支持，包括ESPN的麦卡菲、足球明星亚历克斯·摩根以及休斯顿德州人队的四分卫CJ·斯特劳德。今年早些时候，该品牌还与NFL合作推出了一款特别设计的三明治，以进一步迎合NFL球迷的热情。

Jams的产品在Target和沃尔玛有售，它瞄准的是Uncrustable的弱点：数字营销和与内容创作者合作进行推广。（Smucker公司过去广告投入有限，但表示今年计划增加推广方面的支出。）

与此同时，另一家食品巨头 Welch's 正在沃尔玛推出一款“真正的花生酱果冻三明治”，据称这款三明治比 Uncrustable 大 50%，蛋白质含量也大约是 Uncrustable 的两倍。

Welch's 首席品牌和创新官 Andrew Hartshorn 在一份新闻稿中表示，该产品的诞生是为了回应消费者想要“更大份的三明治，以满足更大的食欲，真正能让他们吃饱”。

罗森表示，考虑到韦尔奇“在花生酱和果酱领域占据第二大份额”，他们进军这个领域早就应该了，但传统品牌行动缓慢，冷冻食品也难以分销。

然而，随着竞争对手的出现，斯马克并没有坐以待毙。

该公司已对现已倒闭的Chubby Snacks提起诉讼，捍卫其专利的压纹密封技术。此外，该公司还与Trader Joe's超市陷入诉讼，声称该连锁超市的包装与其产品过于相似。

不过，罗森认为，竞争压力表明，这一品类已经完全成熟——距离 Uncrustables 上架商店货架已经过去了 26 年。

“随着更多品牌进入市场，相关讨论不断增多，便形成了一个正反馈循环：人们会说，‘我想要那个！’”他说道。“于是，更多产品涌现，更多人购买并考虑花生酱果酱三明治。”