| 3 T T Kim Bowden Flavours gain acclaim REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Pic’s Peanut Butter Eighteen years ago, a Nelson market stall selling homemade peanut butter set out to challenge Sanitarium, then the dominant brand on supermarket shelves. Today, Sanitarium has exited the category entirely, and Pic’s Peanut Butter holds a 41% market share, the clear number-one in New Zealand. The story began when founder Pic Picot, then in his 50s and losing his eyesight, decided supermarket peanut butter was “disgusting” and full of unnecessary sugar. “He actually bought some peanuts and went home and roasted them up and blew up his blender making peanut butter, because he remembered his mum and his aunty making peanut butter at home,” recalls CEO Aimee McCammon, Pic’s stepdaughter. “He started selling it at the Nelson Farmers Market and people just really liked it.” From those early sales, word spread quickly. Friends sold jars at markets around the country, local supermarkets came on board, and eventually New World and Wellington’s Moore Wilson’s stocked the brand. What sets it apart, Aimee says, is quality and authenticity. “We fresh roast on premise, which not everyone does, and so that it’s a bit like coffee – you really control the individual flavour with the roast, so it’s delicious.” Pic’s uses high-oleic peanuts, which have a higher oil content and deliver creamier peanut butter without additives. Equally distinctive is the branding. Pic himself cobbled together the original labels from brown butcher’s paper and clip-art. “We always say, ‘look for the star on the jar’,” Aimee says. “The story behind our brand icon, the star, is literally that it was free on Microsoft when Pic was making his first labels.” The sense of fun continues inside the business. The company still runs a stall at the Nelson Farmers Market “to honor our origins”, Aimee says, and Pic continues to drop into meetings or take staff out for coffee. “A lot of our team has been here for a really long time. So, you know, lots of people have babies. We call them peanut butter babies.” Innovation also plays a role, although carefully. The company’s Salt & Pepper Peanut Butter, winner at the 2025 Food Awards, grew from Pic’s own quirky breakfast habit: Vogels toast topped with peanut butter, tomato, and plenty of cracked pepper. While Pic was sceptical anyone would buy it ready-made, new-product development manager Purdey O’Sullivan developed the product, trialled it at the Nelson market and the factory store, and proved him wrong. “We kept giving it to people, and they loved it,” Aimee says. “So, we started selling it, and then we submitted it for an award and won. It’s just such fantastic recognition for the team.” This year also marked a significant change in ownership. Melbourne-based Scalzo Foods, a family-owned food and ingredient supplier, has purchased a 51.3% stake in the company. Pic retains 42.4% and continues as the ideas guy and brand ambassador, while Aimee holds 6.3%. She says the partnership allows Pic’s to keep its manufacturing base in Nelson while securing the investment needed to grow. “We’re a quirky family company, and they’re a quirky family company,” Aimee says of the new partnership. “We’re delighted with how well we’re working together.” Pic’s product development manager, Purdey O'Sullivan, with the company’s Salt & Pepper Peanut Butter, winner at the 2025 Food Awards. ojifs.com Pic’s Peanut Butter Proudly supplying quality corrugated packaging to Packaging Southern | +64 3 547 5080 | case.si@ojifs.com Create the labels you want, with no compromise! 0800 425-223 | info@label.co.nz | www.label.co.nz Digital and Flexographic printing options for: Wine Honey Craft Beer Nutraceutical Personal Care Or any other kind of labelling you might need Labelmakers Group PROUD TO SUPPORT PIC’s PEANUT BUTTER
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