PB&J maker with KY facility sues popular grocery chain over sandwich dupe
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Smucker sues Trader Joe’s in Ohio, alleging copycat crimped sandwich design.
- Smucker seeks restitution and destruction of Trader Joe’s sandwiches and packaging.
- Smucker is same company behind Lexington peanut butter factory and Scottsville bakery.
The parent company of Lexington’s peanut butter factory is suing a national grocer for violating trademarks on its products, some of which are made in Kentucky.
In a lawsuit filed Oct. 13 in Ohio, J.M. Smucker Co. said Trader Joe’s has made a product too similar to its iconic Uncrustables frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, describing their product and its packaging as, “an obvious attempt to trade off of the fame and recognition of the Uncrustables Design Marks.”
Smucker is alleging in the federal lawsuit the Trader Joe’s product Crustless Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jam Sandwiches have the same crimp markings on the edge of their sandwich as Uncrustables, a design choice that violates its existing trademarks.
Smucker also said the packaging Trader Joe’s uses for its sandwiches include the same blue color and imagery of a sandwich with a bite taken out of it that could confuse consumers.
“Smucker does not take issue with others in the marketplace selling prepackaged, frozen, thaw-and-eat crustless sandwiches. But it cannot allow others to use Smucker’s valuable intellectual property to make such sales,” Smucker lawyers said in the lawsuit.
Smucker is the same company behind Jif Peanut Butter, all variants of which are made at a factory in Lexington on Winchester Road. It’s the largest peanut butter-producing plant in the world, according to the city’s tourism department.
The company began operating its first Uncrustables bakery in 2013 just outside Bowling Green in Scottsville, about two-and-a-half hours southwest of Lexington. The company produces more than 1.5 billion sandwiches annually in its Kentucky facility and in two others in Colorado and Alabama.
Representatives from Smucker and from Trader Joe’s did not respond to requests for additional comment.
In the lawsuit, Smucker said it’s spent more than $1 billion and 20 years developing the brand for its sandwiches, including modifying ingredients so Uncrustables can be mass-produced. Over the years, the company has also developed new flavors and continued tweaking the sandwich recipe.
The crustless sandwich was loosely invented by two Minnesota men in 1995. The pair taste-tested them at local schools before Smucker acquired the brand in 1998, trademarked the name to Uncrustables and secured a patent for a “sealed crustless sandwich,” according to the company’s website.
By 2000, the sandwiches appeared on grocery store shelves made with grape and strawberry jelly. Now, Uncrustables are available with raspberry or mixed berry jelly, chocolate hazelnut spread, apple butter, just peanut butter or on wheat bread.
Trader Joe’s only sells its crustless sandwiches with strawberry jam. To remain sealed and crustless, the round Smucker sandwiches are cut from the center of two slices of bread and then crimped closed.
The company said in the lawsuit the product from Trader Joe’s too closely mirrors theirs with the same kind of crimping it says it’s trademarked.
Smucker’s lawsuit also cites a social media post from a consumer who falsely said the Trader Joe’s sandwiches were made by Smucker but under a private label agreement.
It’s unclear in the post and in the lawsuit what made the person draw that conclusion, but Smucker said the packaging Trader Joe’s has created also too closely mirrors that of Uncrustables.
Smucker is requesting restitution from Trader Joe’s and wants a judge’s help in requiring the grocery chain to deliver its copycat products and packaging to Smucker to be destroyed.
According to Investopedia, Uncrustables sales leaped 15% year-over-year during fiscal year 2025 and hit $920 million.
The sandwich accounts for more than 10% of annual sales at the company, which also sells Jif, Folgers and Café Bustelo coffee, pet food and some Hostess Brands products.
At the end of the fiscal year ending in June, company executives said in an earnings call it would likely hit $1 billion in annual sales in the next year. Leaders at Smucker said they expect demand to withstand price increases while the company continues to make changes to the way its sandwiches are mass produced in a way that remains profitable.
In 2022, Smucker sent a cease and desist letter to a Minnesota company it claimed was making upscale versions of Uncrustables with their signature crimped edges.
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