This isn’t your kid’s peanut butter.
Two-year-old Sorrells Pickard Gourmet Peanut Butter Co., based in Irvine, has been spreading its name and grabbing shelf space at area supermarkets.
Named after country singer and songwriter Sorrells Pickard, whose family owns a peanut farm in Jackson County, Fla., the company got its start in 1997 when Pickard joined forces with former television editor Herb Dow. In 1999, Bryan Corlett joined as president and set up shop in Orange County. The company’s aim is to be the Grey Poupon of peanut butter, Corlett said.
Since November, the company has obtained shelf space in all the major supermarket chains on the West Coast, launched a TV ad created by Tool Advertising, Los Angeles,the shop responsible for the “Got Milk?” campaign,and sold more than 1 million units.
“We created a high-end quality brand and have attracted a lot of adults who got away from peanut butter because no one was advertising to them,” Corlett said. “Most peanut butter advertising is geared toward children, but consumption is also adults and they want to have their own brand.”
In the TV ad, an attractive woman smears peanut butter behind her ears, on her wrists and legs as if it were perfume. Next she takes a stroll and her scent attracts the attention of both man and his best friend, a dog.
The 30-second TV spot, which began airing in Denver in November, has been expanded to the West Coast and is showing up on major networks and during hit shows such as “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” The company has spent about $1 million to buy airtime in 11 Western states. Dab-Row Advertising of Costa Mesa, began buying space for a new radio spot last month.
Since its 80,000-jar test launch in November, Sorrells Pickard has sold more than 1 million jars of peanut butter, up from 10,000 jars in 1998. The company’s sales last year were $500,000, but this year the company projects $6 million to $9 million in sales.
The product, which is made with cinnamon and vanilla, now is in more than 6,000 supermarkets in four West Coast states. They include Von’s, Safeway, Certified Grocers, Food4Less, Stater Bros., Gelson’s, Albertson’s and Ralphs. In Orange County, Sorrells Pickard himself was making appearances recently at Albertson’s and Ralphs, signing jars of the product bearing his smiling face.
“To be in all the major chains in a one-year period is a great accomplishment,” said Nate Franke, a retail analyst at Deloitte & Touche LLC in Costa Mesa.
Two new larger jars,28-ounce and 40-ounce,are scheduled to join the company’s original 18-ounce size this fall. The largest size will sell in club stores such as those of Costco.
The peanut butter industry, which counts annual sales of $800 million, is dominated by big brands such as Procter & Gamble Co.’s Jif (31%), Bestfoods’ Skippy (20%) and ConAgra Inc.’s Peter Pan (12%). Sorrells, small peanuts in comparison, ambitiously hopes to grab an 8% stake of the market.
“There are some big players in their market and they will always face competition,” Franke said. “As they become bigger, they will be noticed more by the goliaths in the industry. Once they become more noticed, Kraft may decide to come up with its own brand and target the adult market. So you may have new competition.”
The company has raised $2 million in a private investment. The company is looking to raise another $11 million to support a national rollout next year and eventually an initial public offering.
The peanut butter is made in Enterprise, Ala., but plans are to negotiate deals with two more factories under the direction of a new executive the company hired from Nabisco Inc.
Meanwhile, a slew of Hollywood investors who work for major studios have joined the company as stockholders, generating a blitz of free product placements in major TV shows such as “Friends,” “Dawson’s Creek,” “Dharma and Greg” and others.
“It’s an incredible marketing advantage because viewers recognize the jars,” said Dow, who co-founded the company with Pickard and who is chairman of the board. “It’s almost equal to running a commercial.”
Investors, Dow said, include execs at Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros., Sony Corp.’s Columbia TriStar, CBS Corp.’s Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Walt Disney Co. Dow chalks up those backers to connections he made during his 30 years as a TV editor. Sorrells Pickard even landed a major plug in “Sweet November,” an upcoming Warner Bros. release featuring actor Keanu Reeves. In the movie, Reeves plays an advertising executive working on a peanut butter campaign. He uses Sorrells Pickard’s storyboards as a prop while the company’s commercial plays in the background.
“That’s a real creative approach to marketing a new product and not having to use cash,” Franke said.
