The JM Smucker company has announced that it wiil be merging the Proctor and Gamble owned Folgers brand into its company, a deal valued at over 3 billion dollars. As part of the deal Smucker will assume Folgers’ 350 million dollar debt but the will be acquiring the leader in retail coffee. Folgers has always been know as THE name in cheap coffee but they have been able to maintain market share in a day of growing appreciation of gourmet coffee. Folgers is actually a billion dollar brand name and will do much to strengthen the overall name of Smuckers. Smucker wants to dominate their niche and by growing the value of their brands from 1 billion in 2002 to approximately 15 billion today I’d say they are doing a pretty good job. Smuckers with the addition of Folgers now has ten number one brands with names like Jif, Crisco and Pillsbury in their stable.

I wonder with the strengthening of the organic coffee market worldwide if Folgers will move away from cheap coffee and begin branding organic coffee. Cheap coffee in a can is loosing it’s appeal thanks to Starbucks who continue to open coffee shops and an incredible pace. Many people are realizing that cheap coffee can be easily replaced by not so expensive organic coffee.They can have a much improved coffee experience at about the same price. Folgers has incredible name recognition and it would not be hard for them to launch an organic coffee product. Look for Folgers to make some big strides in the near future with some strong leadership from Smuckers to support the brand.