Planters Nut & Chocolate Company is an American snack food company owned by Hormel Foods. Planters is best known for its processed nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them.[1] Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentile for a 1916 contest to design the company's brand icon.[1] The design was modified by a commercial artist and has continued to change over the years.
History
Planters was founded by Italian immigrant Amedeo Obici in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He started his career as a bellhop and fruit stand vendor in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Obici later moved to Wilkes-Barre, opened his own fruit stand, and invested in a peanut roaster. Obici turned peddler within a few years, using a horse and wagon, and calling himself "The Peanut Specialist". In 1906, Obici entered a partnership with Mario Peruzzi, the soon to be owner of Planters. Peruzzi had developed his own method of blanching whole roasted peanuts, doing away with the troublesome hulls and skins; and so with six employees, two large roasters, and crude machinery, Planters was founded. Amedeo Obici believed that prices and first profits were as important as repeat business, focusing his operation on quality and brand name for continued success.