Ready for This New PB&J From Colorado’s Famous Justin?

Back in 2004, a Boulder, Colorado, transplant keen on the outdoors kept a concoction on his counter that tempted his roommates to dip in when he wasn’t looking. So, the outdoorsy guy whipping up the tasty protein-packed nut butter blends marked the jars “Justin’s.”

Thus, the food success story goes that gets handed down to every entrepreneur who dreams of disrupting a grocery store category like Justin Gold did with his Justin's almond butter business. After growing from local farmers' markets to big box stores and beyond, the maker of Skippy came a calling in 2016 with $286 million. Hormel bought the Colorado-based company that May.

Fast forward to 2023, and the well-known curly-haired Justin has spread to bread as the chief innovation and strategy officer at Boulder-based Rudi’s Mountain Bakery, a maker of organic, gluten-free products.

And this year comes one of his newest innovations. Get ready for it …

He has created a PB-free and Jelly sandwich.

Don’t laugh.

Americans bought $900 million worth of premade, “portable peanut butter and jelly” sandwiches last year, according to Voyage Foods.

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One of the most famous portables, Smucker’s Uncrustables, is made right here in Longmont, Colorado.

The real differentiator in the deal comes from a Californian brand, Voyage Foods. It provides an allergen-free alternative to peanut butter: a roasted seed blend concocted to taste like the real thing. Bonus: Voyage Foods uses upcycled ingredients to replicate flavors like chocolate and coffee without the beans.

The new peanut-free, gluten-free, ready-to-eat sandwiches, called Sandos, will be available at Whole Foods Market nationwide beginning in May.

If you prefer to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the old-fashioned way, Walmart stocks Voyage’s peanut-free and hazelnut-free spreads. Rudi’s can be found at most natural foods stores and grocery stores, including Whole Foods, Sprouts and King Soopers.