Peanut butter accounts for 60 percent of U.S. peanut availability

According to ERS’s Food Availability data, the amount of peanuts available for consumption in the United States has averaged 6.6 pounds per person per year over the last decade compared with 5.9 pounds in the prior 10 years. The 2002 Farm Act removed longstanding regulatory quotas that limited supplies, and beginning in 2003, higher production and lower farm-level peanut prices may have helped spur demand for peanuts and peanut products. Availability of peanut butter grew from 2.9 pounds per person in 2002 to 3.9 pounds per person in 2012, and accounted for 58 percent of peanut availability that year. Availability of snack peanuts and other peanuts (20 percent of peanut availability in 2012) and peanut candy (18 percent of availability) has been basically flat over the decade. Availability of shell peanuts fell in 2012. Total peanut availability declined to 5.9 pounds per person in 2013. The data for this chart come from Food Availability data series in ERS's Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System.