McCutcheon's Apple Products

What McCutcheon's Apple Products does

McCutcheon's Apple Products is a privately held, family-owned specialty food manufacturer founded in 1938 in Frederick, Maryland. The company produces over 200 SKUs including apple butter, fruit butters, preserves, jellies, hot sauces, BBQ sauces, salad dressings, relishes, honey, apple cider, old-fashioned sodas, marinara sauce, baking mixes, and seasonal fresh apples. All products are made using traditional recipes and cooking methods with real cane sugar and natural fruit juices, explicitly avoiding high fructose corn syrup. Manufacturing occurs at a single facility constructed in 1993 at the original downtown Frederick site, and the company has 30+ full-time employees including 16 family members from the 4th and 5th generations.

The business operates through three primary revenue channels: direct-to-consumer sales via a factory store at 13 S Wisner Street in Frederick and two e-commerce storefronts; wholesale distribution to independent retailers and distributors across the northeast, southeast, and western United States; and a private label / custom label program serving retailers, weddings, and corporate gifting. The private label offering includes a $100 one-time design setup fee and $1.75 per case label printing fee, while wholesale orders require a 5-case minimum for pickup and 12-case/300 lb minimum for freight. Custom label pricing for events qualifies for wholesale rates at 5+ cases (averaging 30% off retail).

The company is led by Robert J. McCutcheon III (President) alongside Vice Presidents Vanessa McCutcheon Smith, Michael R. McCutcheon, and William J. McCutcheon Jr., all fourth-generation family members. No external funding has been raised, no acquisitions or divestitures have occurred, and the company remains entirely family-controlled. Sustainability initiatives include recycling 1,000,000 pounds of organic material annually, 100% cardboard recycling, and a 100-kilowatt solar array supplying approximately 80% of facility electricity. The company has no disclosed AI/technology capabilities and no patent or trademark filings in source materials, operating primarily as a heritage CPG manufacturer.

Name

McCutcheon's Apple Products

Legal name

McCutcheons Apple Products, Inc.

Website

https://mccutcheons.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1938

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

McCutcheon's Apple Products is a family-owned specialty food manufacturer founded in 1938 in Frederick, Maryland, producing over 200 SKUs of apple butter, preserves, jellies, sauces, and sodas for retail consumers, wholesale distributors across three US regions, and private/custom label clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Frederick

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Revenue model

1. Retail Sales: Direct-to-consumer sales through factory store and online e-commerce platform for preserves, fruit butters, honey, hot sauces, cider, and gift baskets
2. Wholesale Distribution: Bulk product sales to retailers and distributors. Offers private label wholesale program with custom label design services, requiring minimum 5 cases for pickup and 12 case/300 lb minimum for freight
3. Custom Label Products: Custom labeled fruit butters, preserves, sodas, and juices for weddings, corporate events, and special occasions. Qualifies for wholesale pricing at 5+ cases (average 30% off)
4. Corporate Gifts: Mail order corporate gift baskets and gourmet gift basket orders for pickup at Frederick, MD location

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

McCutcheon's Apple Products is a family-owned specialty food manufacturer founded in 1938 in Frederick, MD, producing more than 200 SKUs of apple butter, fruit butters, preserves, jellies, sauces, relishes, honey, cider, sodas, and baking mixes made with real cane sugar and no high fructose corn syrup. The company sells directly to consumers through its factory store and online shop, supplies wholesale accounts, and operates private label and custom label programs for retail partners and corporate gifts.

Product overview

McCutcheon's Apple Products is a family-owned food manufacturing company founded in 1938, offering a diverse portfolio of homestyle fruit-based products. The core offering consists of apple butter, fruit butters, preserves, jellies, hot sauces, BBQ sauces, salad dressings, relishes, honey, apple cider, old-fashioned sodas, and baking mixes. The company operates a private label wholesale program with over 200 products, a custom label service for weddings and corporate events, and sells directly to consumers through their factory store in Frederick, MD, and online shop. Products use real cane sugar and natural fruit juices as sweeteners, with no high fructose corn syrup.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Apple Butter

Quantifiable outcome

• Environmental sustainability: 1,000,000 pounds of organic material recycled annually; 100% cardboard recycled; 80% electricity from solar

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Olde Mother Brewing CompanyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 February 2017Olde Mother Brewing Company is a micro-brewery in Frederick, MD. McCutcheon's is a supplier for some of their beverage creations. Nick Wilson, co-founder, confirmed the partnership in an interview.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Welch's: Iconic fruit-based brand spanning jams, juices, and fruit snacks owned by a cooperative. Adjacent competitor in preserves and broader fruit-products category with much larger distribution.
• The J.M. Smucker Company: Mass-market CPG conglomerate whose Smucker's and Dickinson's brands dominate U.S. preserves and jelly shelf space. Represents the price-competitive incumbent McCutcheon's must differentiate against.
• Musselman's (Knouse Foods): Knouse Foods operates Musselman's, Lucky Leaf, and Apple Time apple sauce and pie-filling brands. Direct competitor in apple-derived products and adjacent preserves/pie fillings with national distribution.

Regional players

• Wilkin & Sons (Tiptree): UK-based premium preserves, marmalades, and condiments sold globally through gourmet retail and foodservice. Comparable in premium small-batch fruit preserves and heritage brand positioning; geographically separate.
• White House Foods: Virginia-based apple sauce, apple juice, and cider vinegar producer. Comparable in apple-product specialization and U.S. East Coast heritage, though larger and more focused on sauce/juice than preserves.

Direct peers

• Stonewall Kitchen: Specialty jams, sauces, condiments, and baking mixes sold through DTC, wholesale, and gift channels. Closest comparable in product mix, premium positioning, multi-channel model, and family/heritage-style brand storytelling.
• Crofter's Organic: Canadian organic jams and fruit spreads sold to natural and mainstream grocers across North America. Comparable in fruit-based preserves core product and overlap with the clean-label/no-HFCS positioning.
• Bonne Maman: Premium French preserves and jellies marketed on heritage, simple ingredients, and gift-quality packaging. Direct product overlap with McCutcheon's preserves/jams segment and shared clean-label positioning.
• American Spoon Foods: Michigan-based specialty fruit preserves and fruit butters sold DTC and to specialty retailers. Closely comparable in scale, artisan positioning, fruit-butter specialization, and northern U.S. heritage branding.
• Braswell's: Georgia-based preserves, sauces, condiments, and dressings with strong southeastern wholesale distribution. Comparable in multi-SKU specialty food portfolio and regional heritage positioning.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/McCutcheonApl
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCBdxgyZ-lbAil2t03Ud_IVA
• Facebookfacebook.com/McCutcheonsAppleProducts
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mccutcheon's-apple-products-inc-
• Instagraminstagram.com/mccutcheons_ap
• Pinterestpinterest.com/mccutcheonsinc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about McCutcheon's Apple Products