The Rise of Peanut Butter in Britain: A Cultural Transformation

The Rise of Peanut Butter in Britain

When the American political commentator and passionate peanut butter enthusiast, William F. Buckley Jr., made his way to an English boarding school in the late 1930s, he was met with a curious reaction to one of his favorite snacks. Care packages from home often included jars of peanut butter, but his British classmates, as Buckley later recounted, would “one after another actually spit out” the sticky spread.

Fast forward to the 1970s, and travel writer Rick Steves reminisced about his inaugural European adventure in 1973, where he packed a big plastic tube filled with a mixture he believed he wouldn’t find abroad: “a swirl of peanut butter and strawberry jam.” This nostalgic preparation, however, is now a distant memory, as the landscape of peanut butter in Europe has dramatically transformed over recent years.

In the last decade, Britain, along with various other parts of Europe, has embraced peanut butter with open arms. At Waitrose, a well-known British grocery chain, shoppers can now choose from an impressive selection of 35 different varieties of peanut butter. The options range from creamy to chunky, sweet to salty, and even extra-dark roasted, available in jars, squeeze bottles, and hefty two-pound tubs.

Peanut butter has infiltrated the culinary scene in cities across the United Kingdom. It finds its way into innovative gourmet dishes, such as peanut butter shortbread served at Hawksmoor, a high-end steakhouse chain, and decadent tarts featured at the Greek restaurant chain Gaia. Additionally, it has become a key ingredient in a viral layer cake at Lavo, an Italian eatery located in the affluent Mayfair district, where it is sandwiched between 20 indulgent layers of chocolate and mascarpone.

Jon Krampner, the author of Creamy and Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, aptly describes peanut butter as the “all-American spread.” Its popularity has firmly taken root across the Atlantic, marking a significant cultural shift. While Britain is not the first European nation to embrace this beloved spread—having been surpassed by the Netherlands in peanut butter consumption—it stands as the most recent country where the product has truly flourished. Over the past five years, peanut butter sales in Britain have soared, finding its way into an array of culinary delights, including brownies, baked goods, gourmet burger relishes, and even as a unique topping for curries and crumpets.