Jif (sometimes printed as JIF, styled as JiF) is an American brand of peanut butter made by the J.M. Smucker Company. It was first created as "Big Top" by William T. Young in 1946, then purchased by Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1955 and renamed to "Jif". J.M. Smucker later purchased the brand from P&G in 2002. Its products are produced at a facility in Lexington, Kentucky, which is the largest peanut butter production facility in the world.
History
In 1946, Jif was created by William T. Young in Lexington, Kentucky, named "Big Top" at the time.[2] In 1955, Procter & Gamble bought Big Top peanut butter and its manufacturing facilities in Lexington from William T. Young.[3] In the ensuing years, the company reformulated and rebranded it to compete with Skippy and Peter Pan. P&G named its product Jif, used oils other than peanut oil in its hydrogenation process, and sweetened the recipe, adding sugar and molasses.