Peter Pan is an American brand of peanut butter that is marketed by Post Consumer Brands, part of Post Holdings. Named after the J. M. Barrie character, the product was introduced by Swift & Company through its Derby Foods subsidiary, E.K. Pond Company. It was renamed "Peter Pan" in 1928. Plastic jars were introduced in 1988 for product sold in the United States.
History
Peter Pan’s origins date to 1915, when Derby Foods manufactured peanut butter under the name of its subsidiary, the E.K. Pond Company. Edmund Kirk Pond was the company’s namesake, and the cousin of Henry Clay Derby, whose Derby Foods was the parent entity.
Edmund Pond died in 1900, and Henry Derby sold the enterprise to Swift & Company in 1904. E.K. Pond Company also marketed its peanut butter under its "Yankee" and "Toyland" brands, but without much success. Meanwhile, in 1921, Joseph L. Rosefield patented[3] a nonseparating, partially hydrogenated peanut oil peanut butter. In 1923, he licensed his patent to Derby Foods, which initially marketed the product under the name “Dainty” or “Delicia." It did not sell well. The greatest boost to sales came when, in 1928, Derby Foods seized upon the popularity of the James M. Barrie play by appropriating the title character for its brand name. Peter Pan Peanut Butter became a best seller.