Polaner's Jam 16th Avenue Photos Do you have a photo of this Business? If so please email me. Official Web Site

Polaner's Jam was founded by Max Polaner who came from Europe in 1885. Max Polaner and his wife Lena started preserving fresh fruits and picking fresh vegetables sometime before the turn of 1900. Back then, the Polaner operation was a room next door to their fruit and vegetable store at 370 Bank Street in Newark, New Jersey.

Once Max and Lena saw how quickly customers were falling in love with their jellies, preserves, sauerkraut, pickles and other goods they were sell as a “side business,” they began selling their wares through other Newark stores. Soon, this husband and wife team’s reach was moving beyond neighborhoods of Newark and extending into the “high-quality” food stores throughout New York and New Jersey metropolitan area.

In 1910, the business moved to larger quarters at 328-330 South Sixth Street where ten employees (including two salesmen) continued to help build the Polaner brand. As business continued outward to stores some 100 miles away, so did the need for even larger facilities with a larger workforce.

In 1928, a new shop was built at 233-239 Morris Avenue, Newark where thirty employees were welcomed as the latest members of the Polaner family. Customer demand grew steadily during the next forty years. An even larger facility was needed to keep up with the baby-booming families of the post World War ll generation. After carefully researching the facilities of other leading “preserving plants” in the United States, Polaner decided to modernize its capabilities.

In 1968, a new building was constructed on eight acres of land in Roseland, New Jersey. Through two expansions in 1972 and 1978, this site grew into an incredible 80,000 square foot facility, which is still in use today.