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to retail stores across 70 percent of the United States. We supported the launch with considerable advertising, especially during back-to-school and return-to-school periods. We will bring the product to the entire country in the first quarter of fiscal 2004. 

Also in fiscal 2003, we introduced our pre-toasted grilled cheese Uncrustables product to the retail market, and it too has been well received. This new offering is consistent with our aim to provide consumers with convenient, wholesome, tasty foods — in this case, a grilled cheese sandwich that’s ready to eat after just a minute or less in the microwave. Along with completing the rollout of peanut butter and jelly Uncrustables, we will take the grilled cheese product national in fiscal 2004. We will back these efforts with new Uncrustables television ads and a number of exciting consumer promotions. 

Jif The entire peanut butter category expanded by four percent this past year, as consumers turn to peanut butter as a healthy and inexpensive source of protein. As we mentioned earlier, one of our major accomplishments in 2003 was to revitalize the Jif brand. We significantly increased the amount of consumer advertising behind Jif and are extremely pleased with the way Jif sales outpaced the category’s overall growth rate. The Jif brand commands a 35 percent share of the peanut butter category. This share, combined with our other peanut butter brands — Smucker’s natural peanut butter, Laura Scudder’s, Adam’s, and Goober — gives us a 42 percent share of the total category. In October 2002, the U.S. Congress approved the Farm Bill, resulting in lower peanut prices. We passed along a portion of those savings to our consumers and invested the balance of the savings in the Jif brand, primarily in advertising. Advertising spending against Jif will increase again in 2004, and we are developing new television commercials with our advertising agency, Grey Worldwide. Our Jif plant in Lexington, Kentucky, achieved record production results and did an outstanding job meeting our customers’ demands. We are investing in the Lexington plant to further increase its capacity. 

Crisco For our Company, cooking oil is a new category that presents a unique set of opportunities. We are extremely pleased with how this business performed in fiscal 2003, and we are especially grateful to our team at the Crisco plant in Cincinnati, Ohio, for their many contributions. 

As with Jif, our primary emphasis in 2003 was on revitalizing the Crisco brand, and again, we are pleased with the results of our investments. During the holiday baking season, we began to see our market share increase in response to consumer initiatives, including the first television advertising of Crisco in five years. 

We intend to further strengthen Crisco advertising in fiscal 2004 as part of our strategy to build our brands with consistent levels of high-quality consumer support. 

“I was raised in the 1950s when Crisco was used by most cooks. It was a trusted product that meant good flavor. I’m happy to say that after all these years, 

## ■■■ Comments From Our Consumers 

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Crisco remains the number-one product that beats all of the other products when it comes to flavor. Thanks for all the years of enjoyment.” 

