Chocolate syrup is a popular ice cream topping and ingredient in chocolate milk, chocolate cake, and other delicious treats. With its wide range of jams, jellies, and other fruit spreads, Smucker’s is one of the most well-known brands when it comes to fruit-based condiments. But does this iconic company also make chocolate syrup?
The History of Smucker’s
Smucker’s origins date back to 1897 when Jerome Monroe Smucker began selling apple butter from the back of a horse-drawn wagon. Jerome, his wife Mary, and his brother Willard expanded their offerings to include jams, jellies, and fruit butters. In 1921, The J.M. Smucker Company was incorporated in Orrville, Ohio.
Over the next few decades, Smucker’s continued to grow and diversify its product lineup through acquisitions and new product development. By the 1960s, Smucker’s had expanded into peanut butter, ice cream toppings, and other areas beyond fruit spreads. Today, Smucker’s produces a wide range of jams, jellies, peanut butter, fruit syrups, ice cream toppings, oils, and more.
Smucker’s Product Offerings
Smucker’s is likely best known for its fruit jams, jellies, and preserves. Their jam and jelly lineup includes classic flavors like strawberry, grape, and orange marmalade. But they also offer more unique flavors like cinnamon and mixed berry. Beyond jams and jellies, some other products produced by Smucker’s include:
- Fruit syrups and toppings like strawberry, blueberry, and boysenberry
- Peanut butter, including creamy, crunchy, natural, and reduced fat varieties
- Fruit spreads like apple butter and orange marmalade
- Oils and shortening such as canola, vegetable, coconut, and crisco oils
- Ice cream sauces and sundae syrups in flavors like hot fudge, butterscotch, and chocolate
- Unflavored baking products like baking cocoa and pie filling
- Canned milk such as evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk
- Non-dairy coffee creamers
- Animal foods like dog food, cat food, and horse feed
With this wide range of products, Smucker’s produces many pantry staples found in kitchens across America. But one product offering that seems noticeably absent from its portfolio is chocolate syrup.
The Absence of Smucker’s Chocolate Syrup
Despite producing caramel, strawberry, and butterscotch ice cream sauces and toppings, a check of the Smucker’s website and stores reveals no Smucker’s branded chocolate syrup. The company does make Sundae Syrup Topping in a chocolate flavor. But this still differs from traditional chocolate syrups like Hershey’s or Nesquik that are made for topping ice cream, adding to milk, and using in baking.
There are a few possible reasons why chocolate syrup is not part of the Smucker’s lineup:
- Brand recognition – Smucker’s is so well-known for jams, jellies, and fruit products that a chocolate syrup may seem out of place or too much of a departure from its brand identity.
- Focus on fruit-based products – The company has historically specialized in products revolving around fruit like strawberry, raspberry, and orange. Chocolate syrup does not fit this focus.
- Strong competition – Given how long brands like Hershey’s and Nestle have produced chocolate syrups, Smucker’s may have felt it couldn’t effectively compete in the chocolate syrup market.
Does Smucker’s Make Chocolate Syrup For Other Brands?
While Smucker’s does not produce chocolate syrup under its own brand name, it is possible the company manufactures chocolate syrup for other brands through private label contracts. Smucker’s produces many products for store brands and other companies.
For example, Smucker’s makes jams and jellies for brands like Meijer, Walmart’s Great Value, and Hy-Vee. It produces peanut butter for CVS’ Gold Emblem brand. And Smucker’s makes ice cream toppings and syrups for brands like Ingles and Food Club.
So even though you won’t find Smucker’s branded chocolate syrup on store shelves, it’s certainly possible the company makes chocolate syrup carrying other brands’ names. However, without access to Smucker’s private label manufacturing details, it’s hard to say definitively if they produce chocolate syrup for other companies.
Other Smucker’s Chocolate Products
While traditional chocolate syrup appears absent from Smucker’s lineup, the company does make a few other chocolate products including:
- Ice Cream Toppings – As mentioned, Smucker’s offers chocolate flavored ice cream sauce and chocolate sundae syrup.
- Baking Cocoa – Smucker’s makes natural and Dutch-process unsweetened baking cocoa.
- Chocolate Flavored Syrup – For a short time, Smucker’s made a chocolate flavored syrup designed to add chocolate taste to milk and other beverages without added sugar.
- Chocolate Fudge Magic Shell – This ice cream topping forms a crunchy chocolate shell when drizzled over ice cream.
- Crème de Menthe Strawberry Preserves – This jam features a chocolate mint flavor.
So while Smucker’s offers some chocolate products, a traditional chocolate syrup appears to be one product that has remained elusive from its extensive lineup so far.
Brands That Do Make Chocolate Syrup
If you’re looking for chocolate syrup, here are some top brands to consider:
| Brand | Details |
|---|---|
| Hershey’s | Offers regular and sugar-free chocolate syrups. Hershey’s is likely the most popular brand for chocolate syrup in the US. |
| Nestle | Makes Nestle Quik syrup in regular and no sugar added varieties. Also offers other flavors like strawberry. |
| Torani | Premium brand that makes chocolate syrup containing pure cane sugar. |
| Fox’s U-bet | Old-fashioned style chocolate syrup in iconic green bottle. |
| Santa Cruz Organic | Organic, fair trade chocolate syrup sweetened with organic cane sugar. |
So while Smucker’s may not offer its own chocolate syrup, there are plenty of other brands and options available for chocolate syrup lovers!
Does Smucker’s Make Their Own Chocolate?
Given the absence of chocolate syrup from the Smucker’s lineup, you may be wondering if the company makes any chocolate products from scratch. The answer is no – Smucker’s does not produce its own chocolate.
The cocoa powder used in Smucker’s baking cocoa, for example, is sourced from third party suppliers. For existing chocolate products like Magic Shell and chocolate flavored syrups, Smucker’s relies on external chocolate manufacturers to supply the chocolate ingredients.
Very few companies actually manufacture chocolate from the raw cacao bean. Rather, most purchase industrial chocolate, cocoa butter, or cocoa liquor from suppliers, then use these ingredients to produce chocolate products. So like many food companies, Smucker’s obtains chocolate components from other suppliers instead of making chocolate totally in-house.
Could Smucker’s Make Their Own Chocolate Syrup?
While Smucker’s doesn’t currently offer its own brand of chocolate syrup, it certainly seems possible the company could expand into making chocolate syrup if desired.
Smucker’s already has experience making fruit-based syrups, ice cream toppings, baking products, and other items that show they have the production knowledge to manufacture chocolate syrup. And with its strong brand recognition and distribution network, a Smucker’s chocolate syrup could likely gain decent market share.
However, the company may be hesitant to enter such a saturated market unless they felt they could offer something differentiated from other leading brands. And a chocolate syrup may simply not align with Smucker’s desired brand identity and portfolio focus on fruit products.
Ultimately, while Smucker’s could likely create a quality chocolate syrup if they chose to, it doesn’t appear to be a product direction they are actively pursuing at the moment. Their expertise seems better spent focusing on the jams, peanut butter, fruit syrups and other offerings their customers know and love. But never say never!
Conclusion
In summary, while Smucker’s produces a vast range of fruit spreads, peanut butter, baking items, ice cream toppings, and other grocery products, chocolate syrup is noticeably absent from the Smucker’s brand. The company does offer some chocolate flavored items like ice cream sauce, baking cocoa, and chocolate flavored syrup. However, a traditional chocolate syrup for topping desserts or making chocolate milk does not currently exist under the Smucker’s name.
The reason for this appears to be a mix of competition from established brands like Hershey’s, a desire to focus on fruit-based products, and no production of chocolate from scratch by Smucker’s. However, the company likely possesses the capabilities to manufacture chocolate syrup if it wished to enter that market. For now, though, chocolate syrup lovers will have to look to other brands to satisfy their cravings.
