Peanut Butter Substitutes Dairy Butter as Protein Source

The humble spread, found in lunch-box sandwiches across America, is suddenly a favorite of restaurants and packaged-food companies- thanks largely to falling prices. With the cost of meat and dairy climbing, peanut butter is increasingly seen as a cheap way to supply protein. That’s led to a new generation of products and helped pad profit margins for manufacturers.

With meat prices near records and popular diets pushing increased protein consumption, about 15 percent of Americans now say they’re willing to turn to sources such as soy, nuts and dairy, he said.

U.S. peanut production surged to a record 6.76 billion pounds in 2012, creating an oversupply that persisted even as output came back to earth at 4.17 billion pounds last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA forecasts the harvest will jump 19 percent to 4.97 billion pounds this year.

Part of the reason for the bumper crops is a new variety of peanut, the Georgia 06G, that is more disease-resistant and better yielding, said Bob Parker, president of the National Peanut Board in Atlanta. While U.S. harvests averaged about 3,000 pounds an acre 10 years ago, last year’s crop was more than 4,000 pounds an acre, he said.

Prices for the creamy spread dropped for five straight months through July, when they reached the lowest level since 2011. Creamy peanut butter was about $2.42 a pound in August, 11 percent cheaper than a year earlier, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show.

Still, the National Peanut Board estimates that about 94 percent of U.S. households regularly eat peanut butter.