Tue., February 21, 2012 2:45pm (EST)

Peanut Butter Sales Plummet

By Josephine Bennett

Updated: 3 months ago

MACON, Ga.  —   One of the country’s largest manufacturers of peanut butter is reporting a decline in sales and profit. The J.M. Smucker Company says fewer people are buying Jif.

Sales declined by 10 percent in the last quarter. In November Smuckers raised the price of peanut butter 30 percent in response to rising peanut prices.

The company’s Paul Smucker Wagstaff says many consumers stocked up before the increase, but haven’t returned to fill their cupboards.

”We would expect to see some of that come back at the latter part of the quarter and we haven’t seen that come back yet. And, I think part of that is driven by the fact that the full price increase went into effect January 1, and so there is some of that sticker shock that still exists.”

Wagstaff says they expect profits to decline even more as commodity prices rise. Georgia is the nation’s number one peanut producer.