It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time in McCalla: Smuckers opens biggest Uncrustables factory in the country
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey along with Smuckers CEO Mark Smucker cut the ribbon on the company's new $1 billion Uncrustables plant.
It’s a good day for peanut butter and jelly sandwich lovers in Birmingham.
Three years after the Jefferson County Commission announced the largest economic development project in the region, the J.M. Smucker Company’s Uncrustables factory opened in McCalla on Thursday.
The 900,000 square-foot facility represents a more than $1 billion capital investment from Smuckers and is predicted to bring in 750 jobs to the community. Smuckers CEO Mark Smucker cut the ribbon alongside Gov. Kay Ivey.
“Folks, no matter how you slice it, this is a monumental partnership,” Ivey said, eliciting laughter from the audience.
The factory is now one of three Uncrustables facilities making the fruit and peanut butter pocket pastry.
Smuckers staff said Uncrustables is the company’s fastest growing item out of its substantial portfolio of products, including Jif peanut butter and Folgers coffee.
“The decision to have our newest location here in McCalla was one we were very confident in and one we are very pleased with,” Smucker said.
Officials estimated that Uncrustables will become a billion dollar brand by the end of Fiscal Year 2026. Othell Phillips, executive director of the Jefferson County Economic and Industrial Development Authority, called the new facility “a sweet deal” for the region.
When the deal was first announced in 2021, county officials compared the project to development announcements for Honda and Mercedes, although those operations have grown since they first began. Officials added that the $1.1 billion from Smucker is the largest initial investment in the county’s history.
Here’s how Trump and the GOP may try to weaken Obamacare
Republican control of the White House and Congress sets the stage for potentially seismic changes including curtailing Medicaid, weakening patient protections, and increasing premium costs for millions.
Richer countries are starting to pay poorer ones for climate change damages
With climate-related disasters getting more extreme, richer countries are piloting ways to compensate developing nations, since they bear the least responsibility for causing climate change.
Most of the country shifted right in the 2024 presidential election
In 2020, President Biden won six of the seven closely watched states. This year, President-elect Donald Trump won all seven — plus he will got a majority of the popular vote.
To hit deep inside Russia, Ukraine has built its own drones
President Biden has now given Ukraine permission to use U.S. ballistic missiles inside Russia. While it was waiting, Ukraine built its own drones that can strike far across the border.
UConn’s Geno Auriemma becomes the all-time winningest college basketball coach
Geno Auriemma has led the women Huskies to 11 championships and nearly two dozen Final Four appearances in his four decades as head coach.
A duct-taped banana sells for $6.2 million at an art auction
A piece of conceptual art consisting of a simple banana, duct-taped to a wall, sold for $6.2 million at an auction Wednesday, with the winning bid coming from a prominent cryptocurrency entrepreneur.
