Here’s a Nutty Idea
Each year, Americans buy 700 million pounds of peanut butter. But about 3.5 million pounds of it ends up unused, stuck at the bottom of the jar, according to Sherwood Forlee, a former Princeton University engineering student. So he's come up with a simple (and Kramer-esque) solution: his Easy PB&J jar has straight interior walls and twist-off lids at both ends. He spent eight years perfecting his invention and hopes to begin production later this year. "It's a really novel concept," says Lee Zalben, founder of Peanut Butter & Co., a Manhattan sandwich store. The peanut-butter industry, however, is hurting from an uncertain supply of peanuts and soaring fuel costs, and may be slow to embrace a packaging change. "It would seem much more expensive to manufacture," says Leslie Wagner of the Peanut Advisory Board. In that case, we'll just have to keep using our fingers.
© 2008
Loading Menu
Member Comments
Posted By: Westcoast08 @ 07/30/2008 11:40:42 AM
Comment: As an avid lover of peanut butter and a professional cook in the restaurant industry, I found this article amusing. I think perhaps one of the least used kitchen utensil in the home today is the rubber spatula! With its straight edge an point on one side and curved on the other; in the restaurant it is probably one of the most used kitchen items in order to "scrape" everything out of the container so that there is little to no waste. Perhaps instead of inventing a new jar, we can just "alert" peanut aficionados to open there kitchen drawer and pull out the rubber spatula that they may have receieved as part of a wedding gift and "scrape" up the last bit of peanut buttery goodness at the bottom of the jar! Sorry Sherwood if the blows your million dollar idea out of the water!
Posted By: sjbrock80 @ 07/17/2008 6:37:01 PM
Comment: Will the factory costs of having to make this jar be too exensive for companies to buy into the idea? Something as simple as adding another lid can put a big toll on production time and energy.
Posted By: alokins @ 07/17/2008 4:17:13 PM
Comment: A person criticizing a former Princeton Graduate should at least know the correct spelling of the word USE.
AR