Anchor butter in the UK page

[catparade]

A bit of info for UK Primal folk out there - Just opened a pack of beloved NZ Anchor butter to fry up my breakfast and noticed it is now produced in the UK. How did I miss this?!

Extremely gutted - no wonder it was on offer! It doesn't even taste the same.
I'm dubious about what cows eat in the UK.

Will now be switching to Kerrigold I think.

[DinoHunter]

Nothing wrong with produced in the UK.. the question is.. are the cows free range? usually if they are they will make a point of saying so on the packaging.
Im lucky that my butter comes from a very happy, field roaming herd of jersey cows only 10 minutes drive from me.. gotta love local produce

[hulahoop]

I use Anchor butter, it was the only one in the supermarket i could find that was 100% butter and not some half butter half veg oil combo Is Kerrigold 100%?

[Lewis]

A bit of info for UK Primal folk out there - Just opened a pack of beloved NZ Anchor butter to fry up my breakfast and noticed it is now produced in the UK. How did I miss this?!

Extremely gutted - no wonder it was on offer! It doesn't even taste the same.
I'm dubious about what cows eat in the UK.

They're fairly non-intensively raised compared to the US. AFAIK the grain-feeding that goes on in the US is only possible on the basis of government subsidies. Poorer places, like Argentina, can't afford to do it.

Cows in the UK probably mostly get some hay or silage in winter. Otherwise, they're out in the fields.

I don't know what Anchor means by that. I have seen previous comment that New Zealand farmers were feeding cows on importyed palm-fruit husk. I've never seen any claims that New Zealand butter wasn't from New Zealand. Why not find their website online, get the contact page, and email and ask them direct? If you ask is all your butter actually from cows in New Zealand or do you buy milk from farmers in the countries you sell in, they're not going to lie to you. I seriously doubt they're doing anything other than distributing New Zealand butter.

Personally, I like the Rachel's Dairy butter. It's now US-owned but the butter comes from organic Welsh farms -- menyn organig wedi haltu. Does for me.

[canio6]

Is Kerrigold 100%?

Kerrygold is very good as far as I can tell (and tastes great). As far as I know it is 100% (with some salt added if you buy the salted version - we have salted and unsalted in the US. I am not sure if that is the case in the UK). Here is their faq page where it talks about how the cows are fed etc: FAQ - Kerrygold USA Cheese & Butter

Apparently the cows are outside eating grass for as long as climate permits (300+ days) then fed sillage (dried local grass). Apparently after calfing they are given some grain as a supplimental feed (more about that in the faq). Their butter is also free of hormones, GMOs etc.

Edit: Oh, and I am speaking of the Kerrygold 100% pure butter. Apparently on the website there is a 'spreadable' version in a tub and a 'ligher' version. I have no idea if they are any different than the block of butter I usually buy as I have never seen them sold here in my small town.

[fifer]

Yes the spreadable is a nasty blend. The usual Kerrygold 100% butter went a lot softer a month or two ago, a new softer formula. Not sure how that works.

[HeatherJ]

We go through nearly a block of Kerrygold a week in our house. The packaging states:

"Product of Ireland. Pure Irish Butter. Real butter, just naturally softer. Our farmers are proud of their deliciously creamy butter- made softer with the help of our grass fed cows. No added preservatives. No colouring. Added ingredient: salt. Fat 80% minimum. Salt 2% maximum."

Also as a side note, our local Tesco sells Kerrygold for £1.60 per 250g block, but at Asda it's only £1.10!

You can also order raw butter (and other raw dairy) from Red23 (Organic Food UK) which ships directly to you anywhere in the UK.

[jo]

AS a kiwi, I was quite surprised to hear this, but here is a background article.

A company spokeswoman added that it had signed an agreement with New Zealand-based dairy giant and key butter exporter Fonterra to supply it with bulk butter from New Zealand, and "that agreement is still in place".

An Arla insider admitted that UK production could be on the cards but stressed nothing was imminent.

Is Anchor set to cut NZ ties and move to UK? | FMCG News | The Grocer

Considering the article was only back in Feb 2011, it looks like it was more imminent that the insider thought!!!

[jo]

Nothing wrong with produced in the UK.. the question is.. are the cows free range? usually if they are they will make a point of saying so on the packaging.
Im lucky that my butter comes from a very happy, field roaming herd of jersey cows only 10 minutes drive from me.. gotta love local produce

I remember buying jersey butter from Waitrose when I lived in the UK and it was very nice.