As a sector, flavoured butters are a tiny but burgeoning portion of the market. Worth £5m, sales grew well ahead of the rest of the category up 4.5% on last year [Kantar].
Volumes rose by an even greater proportion 11.9% indicating that falling unit prices may be prompting consumer trial. There have also been a number of new entries to the category, which have further boosted sales. French premium butter brand Isigny Sainte Mère moved into the market last Christmas with a sampling pack of three 25g butters infused with French-grown mushrooms truffles, ceps and morels presented in an Isigny-branded porcelain butter dish.
"The range proved to be a big hit with fine food lovers in the UK looking for products with character and originality," says European export manager Stéphane Plessis, who adds that the company plans to make the mushroom butters available again this Christmas. Lurpak was one of the first to experiment in this sector by launching a garlic-infused butter in 2003.
Sales of its flavoured range have grown 8% in the past year to £1m. However, Thryth Jarvis, Lurpak's senior brand manager, insists that flavoured butter remains a small part of its portfolio, with no current plans to change this. Support is limited to in-store promotions. The reluctance of the big butter boys leaves flavoured to smaller players.
Somerset-based speciality food producer Enrich Your Food makes butters infused with seasonal flavours. It currently has five variants of flavoured butter, each in 125g pots roasted garlic, wholegrain mustard, spiced honey, lime and chilli, and Somerset cider brandy. A summer variant will be added in the coming weeks.
Focus On Butters & Spreads
Volumes rose by an even greater proportion 11.9% indicating that falling unit prices may be prompting consumer trial. There have also been a number of new entries to the category, which have further boosted sales. French premium butter brand Isigny Sainte Mère moved into the market last Christmas with a sampling pack of three 25g butters infused with French-grown mushrooms truffles, ceps and morels presented in an Isigny-branded porcelain butter dish.
"The range proved to be a big hit with fine food lovers in the UK looking for products with character and originality," says European export manager Stéphane Plessis, who adds that the company plans to make the mushroom butters available again this Christmas. Lurpak was one of the first to experiment in this sector by launching a garlic-infused butter in 2003.
Sales of its flavoured range have grown 8% in the past year to £1m. However, Thryth Jarvis, Lurpak's senior brand manager, insists that flavoured butter remains a small part of its portfolio, with no current plans to change this. Support is limited to in-store promotions. The reluctance of the big butter boys leaves flavoured to smaller players.
Somerset-based speciality food producer Enrich Your Food makes butters infused with seasonal flavours. It currently has five variants of flavoured butter, each in 125g pots roasted garlic, wholegrain mustard, spiced honey, lime and chilli, and Somerset cider brandy. A summer variant will be added in the coming weeks.
Focus On Butters & Spreads
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