GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The founding father of Atwater Brewing has bought a chunk of Michigan historical past.
Mark Rieth has bought the Velvet Peanut Butter model, an iconic Michigan identify going again a long time. He can be bringing operations and manufacturing again to Detroit, in accordance with a launch.
Velvet Peanut Butter was first began in 1937, when a Detroit truck driver, Paul Zuckerman, purchased some used peanut butter tools on a whim. He first offered it out of his automotive, finally rising his operations and sending peanut butter to troopers abroad throughout World Battle II.
A jar of Velvet Peanut Butter. (Courtesy Velvet Peanut Butter)
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Because the model gained reputation, Zuckerman grew to become generally known as the ‘Peanut Butter King.’
The Peanut Butter King offered the corporate in 1985 on the age of 74. Manufacturing was quickly outsourced and shut down in Michigan, earlier than Velvet Peanut Butter stopped hitting cabinets utterly.
It was restarted in 2008 by Eric Bruce.
“I was not planning to sell the brand until I met Mark,” Bruce mentioned within the launch. “It has been a true labor of love to revive Velvet Peanut Butter and shepherd the brand for the past 16 years. Now is the perfect time for me to step away and turn this iconic brand over Mark for him to lead the exciting next chapter.”
Rieth, a Detroit native, remembers having fun with the peanut butter model when he was a child.
“It was my ‘go to’ after school snack the whole time I was growing up. When I learned of the opportunity to acquire the company, it just felt like something I had to do,” Rieth mentioned within the launch. “There are lots of people like me who remember and loved that distinctive Velvet taste.”
He mentioned he’s assured the corporate can deliver Velvet again to the extent of recognition it was in its heyday, with some “aggressive marketing and prominent space on grocers’ shelves.”
“We can do (it) here in Detroit, where it all began for the company,” he mentioned within the launch.
In line with its web site, Velvet is presently out there on-line and in a number of grocery shops and markets, together with Meijer. Meijer’s web site reveals that it’s in inventory on a number of West Michigan Meijer cabinets.
Rieth is the founding father of Atwater Brewery, which he offered in 2022. His present ventures embody the Lansing Brewing Firm, which he acquired earlier this yr.
“I find myself wondering if this is what it was like for Paul Zuckerman in 1937. You wake up one day and think ‘Hey, I guess I’m in the peanut butter business now,’” Rieth mentioned within the launch.
Plans to maneuver manufacturing and distribution of Velvet again to Detroit are nonetheless being finalized. It’ll observe its authentic recipes.
There might also be a future collaboration with Lansing Brewing Firm, like a peanut butter whiskey or a peanut butter porter.
