The Humble PB&J Sandwich Is Sparking a Food Fight Among Snack Giants and Startups

An unlikely hero has emerged in the grocery store, and it’s not even a hero sandwich. Frozen dinner sales are flat this year, but handheld frozen sammies are the one bright spot, growing to $4.6 billion, Food Business News reports. Leading the charge is the humble PB&J, thanks to Smucker’s Uncrustables, which became a $1 billion brand in 2026. Now everyone wants a bite of the prepackaged PB&J sandwich market.

Grape giant Welch’s jumped in this summer with Real PB&Js, which it says are 50% bigger than the leading brand’s sandwich. Consumers “wanted a bigger sandwich for bigger appetites,” says Andrew Hartshorn, Welch’s chief brand and innovation officer.

The startups are getting scrappy too. Jams, founded in 2025, skips seed oils and dyes and teamed up with NFL Players Inc. to help pick its flavors. Fave’Wich, another 2025 launch, was snapped up by JSB Industries in August. Even Kraft Heinz added PB&Js to its Lunchables lineup, proving that a classic never really leaves the lunchbox.

Jonathan Small • Founder, Strike Fire Productions