The Old-School Peanut Butter Spread From The '70s That Was Lost To Time

Consumers in the United States enjoy plenty of options when shopping for peanut butter. This uniquely American nut spread is available in countless varieties and from a plethora of brands. (If you're having trouble deciding which peanut butter to buy, we ranked 10 of the most popular peanut butter brands from worst to best.) However, there is one beloved peanut spread that Americans will never find on modern supermarket shelves, no matter how hard they search. 

Koogle (not to be confused with kugel, a deliciously glorified pasta cheesecake) was a sweet peanut spread produced by Kraft in the 1970s. It came in flavors like chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and banana, and was marketed as a unique product with several novel uses, including being used as an ice cream sundae topping, apple dip, or even whipped up as a frosting. At its peak, Koogle was a favorite of kids across America and was particularly famous for its catchy jingle ("Pea-nutty Koogle with the koo-koo-koogly eyes!") and endearing googly-eyed mascot. However, Koogle's star was short-lived. The sugary flavored spread first appeared in supermarkets in the early 1970s, and had completely vanished from the market by 1978.

Koogle may have been a smash hit with '70s kids, but the peanut spread wasn't quite so popular with that generation's increasingly health-conscious parents. Koogle was criticized for its sugar and sodium content, artificial flavors, and for only containing 60% peanuts (well below the 90% required by the Food and Drug Administration for a product to be labeled as peanut butter). These concerns, combined with Koogle's generally higher price tag compared to plain old peanut butter, evidently caused demand for the sugary spread to drop, and it was ultimately discontinued. However, it's safe to say that if kids had been doing the grocery shopping, we might still have Koogle. To this day, there remains a small but fiercely passionate group of Koogle-obsessed '70s kids who are dedicated to bringing back the flavored peanut spread. 

Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely that Kraft will bring back a discontinued product, so if you have fond childhood memories of slamming Koogle sandwiches, don't get your hopes up that you'll be able to enjoy the nostalgic taste of this sugary spread once again. Koogle may be forever stuck in the '70s, but it's clearly not forgotten. In fact, some would say that Koogle paved the way for the success of another iconic dessert-adjacent nut-based spread that remains very much available in the United States: Nutella. So, if this article has you feeling nostalgic over the loss of Koogle, we suggest treating yourself to a comforting Nutella grilled cheese (don't knock it until you try it).