Preparedness pays off for The J.M. Smucker Co.
For more than 128 years, The J.M. Smucker Co. has been dedicated to crafting the tastes that families love, from peanut butter to coffee, from jelly to pet food. Its brands are ubiquitous not just in pantries across North America but in food culture itself—so iconic that everyone knows the best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup, and Meow Mix is the only food cats ask for by name.
So to borrow yet another company slogan: With a mission like Smucker’s, it has to be resilient. Even when the unforeseen happens.
After a summer storm stalled over Orrville, Ohio, in August 2024, dumping several inches of rain per hour, water entered multiple buildings on the Smucker campus, including an on-site data center. The site sits outside a mapped flood zone, making the flooding unexpected.
Smucker leaders and FM personnel were on-site shortly after, working side by side to assess the conditions and begin making decisions together.
The J.M. Smucker portfolio is part of everyday routines. Jif. Uncrustables. Folgers. Meow Mix. Milk-Bone. And, of course, Smucker’s itself. Protecting the facilities behind those brands is central to how the company operates.
Preparation proves crucial
Long before unanticipated flooding, Smucker had begun working toward FM’s Highly Protected Risk (HPR) designation. HPR is FM’s framework for property protection backed by engineering insight and sustained follow-through.
“Smucker has always been risk-aware,” said FM Account Manager Gregory Shear. “HPR helps them take a structured approach to improving protection across their facilities over time.”
During the August 2024 storm, water backed up outside a lower-level dock area until the pressure eventually exceeded what the door could hold. Smucker and FM acted with urgency, as they've done throughout their partnership.
Responsible growth, resilient facilities
The company's HPR effort advances roughly five sites per year under a structured three- to four-year plan. Seven locations have achieved HPR status, with four more scheduled next year. The goal is advancing all 20 production facilities, prioritizing the most critical to continuity.
Lead Analyst Lily McMillan of the Smucker insurance risk team manages how the program moves from plan to execution, including plant sequencing and funding. “We’ve communicated our HPR goal corporate-wide and to our plants,” she said. “Everyone understands where we’re heading and what needs to happen to get there.”
Smucker facilities must perform reliably to meet demand. Uncrustables, the frozen crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, have become a staple in lunchboxes and freezers nationwide. Smucker designed and built a new Uncrustables facility in Alabama to meet HPR guidelines from day one.
FM engineers regularly walk Smucker sites as part of HPR reviews, so when the August storm hit Orrville, the response was measured and targeted. FM’s flood emergency planning helped bring the situation under control quickly. Industrial hygienists confirmed conditions before re-entry. Critical computing remained operational, and Smucker accelerated plans to move additional systems to the cloud and off-site data centers.
The impacted area of the campus reopened on August 26, just 18 days after the storm.
A risk strategy with clear priorities
For Smucker, recovery is inseparable from risk strategy. FM Staff Engineering Specialist Ryan Primiano frames the work around outcomes rather than terms and conditions.
“What do you want out of your insurance program?” Primiano said. “Do you want the best program? Do you want to know your business is protected? HPR brings those together.”
Primiano describes the company's approach as aggressive but deliberate, with concentrated focus on critical locations across the supply chain. For example, at the Grandview, Washington, facility, which stores the majority of the fruit concentrate used in Smucker’s jelly products, decisions center on a key ingredient for a flagship brand.
“That ingredient is essential for the company’s namesake product,” Primiano said. “If there’s no fruit concentrate, there’s no jelly.”
Protecting more than property
Risk strategy at Smucker extends beyond facilities. Corporate Facilities Manager Nathan Amstutz’s grandfather worked at the company in the 1950s. Lily McMillan grew up in Orrville and returned to work there. It’s a shared responsibility grounded in continuity.
“At the end of the day, you’re protecting communities, assets and the brand,” said Senior Manager, Risk, Payment & Treasury Operations Randy Humes, who oversees risk strategy across corporate and manufacturing operations for Smucker. “This is a company that has been trusted since 1897. We take the responsibility of continuing that legacy seriously.”
Amstutz added, “You don’t finish the work. You keep learning and adjusting.”
That mindset sustains brands people love and communities that have grown alongside the business. Not through reaction. Through preparation, attention and choices made long before they are tested.