Uncrustables

Uncrustables is an American brand of sealed crustless sandwich. Owned and manufactured by The J. M. Smucker Company since 1998,^[1] the brand originally included only frozen and crimped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It now also has a honey and peanut butter variety,^[2] a chocolate hazelnut spread variety,^[3] and a raspberry variety launched recently.^[4] Distributed in the United States and Canada,^[5] fiscal year 2024 sales were approximately $800 million.^[6]

The Uncrustables sandwich was developed in 1995 in Fargo, North Dakota by Len Kretchman and David Geske.^[7] Before creating the product, Geske ran a packaged ice business,^[8] while Kretchman was a former wide receiver for North Dakota State University, and had worked with schools in the food service industry.^[9] Geske and Kretchman were having lunch with their families, when Kristen Geske and Emily Kretchman commented to their husbands that they should^[8] "create a mass-produced peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the crust."^[9] After doing taste tests at schools,^[8] Kretchman and Geske began selling the sandwiches^[10] as the Incredible Uncrustables.^[1] A trademark was secured for the name, and after a year and a half, a patent was also secured for the sandwich. By the end of 1998, 50 employees working out of Fargo were making 35,000 sandwiches a day. The product was sold to schools in eight Midwestern states.^[8]

Smucker's bought the brand in 1998 for $1 million,^[11] changing the name to Uncrustables.^[8] The original flavors included grape and peanut butter, and strawberry and peanut butter. The Uncrustables brand had $10 million in annual sales in 2000,^[12] and $27.5 million in annual sales in 2004.^[10]

In October 2012, several shipments of Uncrustables sandwiches were recalled for containing peanut butter by Sunland Inc., a Smucker's supplier. Sunland had recently closed a plant after other companies using its products reported salmonella outbreaks. Smucker's tests its own products, and no illnesses were attributed to Uncrustables.^[13] In 2017, the Uncrustables recipe was reformulated to use sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, and NSF International certified the reformulated recipe as non-GMO.^[12] Citing difficulties meeting demand, Smucker's did little marketing for the Uncrustables brand in its early years.^[14] Its first national marketing campaign was in 2019, and coincided with the opening of a dedicated plant in Longmont, Colorado. Built for $340 million, the new Uncrustables facility doubled production capacity.^[15]

Smucker's expanded distribution of Uncrustables sandwiches into Canada in 2022, and began building an R&D center at the Smucker's headquarters in Ohio.^[5] Sales for the Uncrustables brand in 2022 came to $511 million.^[14] Smucker's continued to have difficulty keeping up with demand, and was working on expanding its Uncrustables plant in Denver.^[16] Kansas City Chiefs football player Travis Kelce "fueled a sales boom" in November 2023, after he mentioned in a podcast that he likely ate more Uncrustables sandwiches than "anything else in the world."^[15] Sales for Uncrustables that year were $685 million.^[5] The Athletic reported in October 2024 that the NFL consumed over 80,000 Uncrustables sandwiches in a year.^[17] The Denver Broncos ate the most, consuming 700 sandwiches a week.

In November 2024, Smucker's opened an Uncrustables manufacturing facility in McCalla, Alabama.^[18] Around $1.1 billion was invested in the plant.^[19] A raspberry variety of Uncrustables was released in 2024.^[4]

Uncrustables are "pre-made peanut butter and jelly, pocket-like, circular sandwiches" made by The J. M. Smucker Company, according to the Associated Press.^[13] The sandwiches are sold frozen and are meant to be defrosted and eaten at room temperature.^[20] In 2023, Smucker's launched a variety that lasts for five days in the fridge after thawing, allowing them to appear in convenience-store refrigerators.^[14]

According to the Wall Street Journal, they are popular with children but also with adults at work or away from home.^[1] Flavors include raspberry, grape, strawberry, and honey, all combined with peanut butter. A variety with only chocolate-flavored hazelnut is also sold.^[3] Larger versions of Uncrustables sandwiches are sold in certain markets and contain around 590 calories instead of around 200.^[1] The original flavors, grape and strawberry jam, are sold in reduced sugar versions on whole wheat bread.^[12]

Patent number 6,004,596 was issued to Smucker's on December 21, 1999, for a "sealed crustless sandwich".^[21] Since then, the Uncrustables brand has been involved in several high-profile patent and trademark disputes.^{[10][22][21][7]}

Smucker's began an effort in 2001 to expand its patent to also include manufacturing methods. After the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied the request, Smucker's appealed several times.^[7] Its bid was rejected in 2005,^[10] with patent number 6,004,596 deemed not "novel or non-obvious enough."^[23]

Smucker's sent a cease and desist letter to Chubby Snacks for trademark infringement in 2020; Chubby Snacks changed the shape of its crimped sandwiches to clouds as a result.^[1] In 2022, Smucker's sent a cease and desist letter to Gallant Tiger's PB&J over its advertising of a round peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a bite out of it.^[22] The claim was later dropped.^[20] Uncrustables in 2025 sued Trader Joe's for alleged trademark infringement.^[24]

• List of sandwiches

• Official website