Who Makes Kroger Peanut Butter?

We love a mystery as much as the next person, but it's always a bit of a thrill to uncover which manufacturers are behind our favorite private-label brands. We took a deep dive and uncovered that Wells Dairy is behind Walmart's Great Value ice cream, and that Keurig Green Mountain is the brand that makes Costco's Kirkland K-Cups, but there's always more to unearth. When it comes to Kroger's private-label products, the company has a passion for fresh ingredients, so it makes perfect sense that the Kroger brand peanut butter is made from a manufacturer that gets its peanuts from the surrounding area.

Kroger's private-label peanut butter is made by Tara Foods, one of the many manufacturing plants owned by Kroger. The facility is located in Albany, Georgia, and functions as a massive source of economic development in the area, both from the fact that it creates jobs and that it works with local farmers to source peanuts. This not only lowers the cost of production but also contributes to lower price points for customers, as well. Tara Foods produces about 25 million jars of peanut butter per year for the Kroger brand, sending the colorfully decorated containers to Kroger locations across the country and internationally.

Kroger's private-label peanut butter is a big hit amongst customers, with one Redditor admitting it's "the only thing [they] buy to consume that isn't going to be buried in a recipe with other ingredients covering the flavor." Tara Foods develops various flavors of peanut butter for the Kroger brand, including creamy, natural creamy, honey creamy, crunchy, and honey crunchy. The manufacturing plant purchases over 70 million pounds of local peanuts per year to keep up with demand, making it one of the largest plants churning peanut butter other than big brands such as Skippy or Jif.

Peanut butter isn't the only product that Tara Foods manufactures for Kroger, though it is the facility's claim to fame. The manufacturing plant, which opened in 1977 (even though Kroger is the oldest grocery chain in the U.S.), is also responsible for juices, wines, baking extracts, peanut oil, and more. A few years ago, the Kroger brand peanut butter was even the subject of an advertisement encouraging customers to shop its private-label brand for better quality at better prices. Kroger's private-label brand racks up billions of dollars in revenue for the massive chain, much of which can be traced back to products manufactured at Tara Foods.