Smucker Discontinues Knott’s Berry Farm Brands

Jan. 26, 2024

The hundred-year-old name was acquired by Conagra in 1995, has been with Smucker since 2008.

Knott’s Berry Farm, a hundred-year-old name hearkening back to a long-ago Southern California, has been discontinued as a product line by J.M. Smucker Co. as the company focuses its attention on assimilating Hostess Brands.

While Walter Knott attended to growing his various berries, his wife developed berry products to sell at their roadside stand. The preserves and jellies were popular items, and the brand name and manufacturing were picked up by Conagra in 1995. Conagra sold it to Smucker in 2008, when jellies and jams were still a big part of Smucker.

At the time, the business, which included gift boxes, apparently generated $40 million in annual sales. Fruit spreads remains a $426 million business within Smucker’s U.S. Retail Consumer Foods segment.

The Knott’s website now reads: “Knott's Berry Farm brand has been discontinued and is no longer being sold.” The amusement park remains, now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., which operates several amusement parks.

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.