Calvé Peanut Butter Floor Returns as Tribute to Artist

ROTTERDAM – Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen's Depot wing is running a two-month installation of Wim T. Schippers' "Pindakaasvloer" – a floor coated with about 360 kilos of peanut butter. Schippers, who died last month at 83, first made the work in 1969. The current version uses 40 tubs of Calvé, the Dutch brand owned by Unilever (UL).

The aroma hits visitors three floors before they reach the hexagon. Museum staff said it smelled like breakfast. For Unilever, this is a brand-placement event with zero financial weight. Calvé's annual revenue runs into the hundreds of millions of euros inside the Netherlands alone. The donated 40 tubs – enough for roughly 15,000 sandwiches – represent a rounding error in the supply chain.

Schippers' instructions for the reinstall were precise: smooth peanut butter, applied "as smoothly and boringly as possible." No one is allowed to stand or lie on it. In 1997, a group placed bread and chocolate sprinkles on the floor; Schippers said it did not look bad, calling the sprinkles well-proportioned.

For traders scanning Unilever's quarterly reports, this installation is not a line item. The company reports its full-year earnings next week. Peanut butter margins are steady. The museum's show runs through late August.