WIllie Jackson and Paul Goldsmith do a blind taste test on US butter and NZ butter. Video / Ryan Bridge TODAY
The verdict is in on New Zealand’s tastiest supermarket butter, and the winner might already be sitting in your fridge.
Following a thorough blind taste test conducted by Consumer New Zealand, Westgold butter came out on top and was awarded a near-perfect 4.2 out of five stars.
Butterwas judged on taste, appearance and texture. Tasters were also asked if they would buy the butter themselves.
A team of 10 tasters said the winner was more complex than the 12 other blocks, “in a good way”.
The champion block of “yellowy, buttery goodness” was described as rich, salty and decadent.
Despite topping the rankings, Consumer NZ said Westgold butter’s hefty price tag and 400g block size stopped it from reaching a perfect score.
Based on prices from May 6, the block was sold for $2.32 per 100g, when compared to the cheapest block,Burtfield’s & Co, which was sold for just 80c per 100g.
Butter rankings from worst to best
Market Kitchen, $1.50/100g, 2.5/5
Burtfield’s & Co, $0.80/100g, 2.8/5
Lewis Road Creamery, $3.12/100g, 3/5
Anchor, $2.00/100g, 3.3/5
Rolling Meadow, $1.94/100g, 3.4/5
Woolworths, $1.68/100g, 3.5/5
Macro, $3.40/100g, 3.5/5
Lurpak, $3.40/100g, 3.5/5
Mainland, $1.96/100g, 3.7/5
Alpine, $1.70/100g, 4/5
Pams, $1.66/100g, 4/5
Westgold, $2.32/100g, 4.2/5
What made Westgold so good?
Westland milk products chief executive Alex Turnbull said the results confirmed one of Westland’s “best-kept secrets”.
“Given our location and the knowledge and skills of our butter team, we know we have a lot going for us, but this result still fills us with pride,” Turnbull said.
He said the simplicity of mixing only grass-fed fresh cream and salt gives Westgold butter a distinctive texture.
Turnbull said Westgold’s “gold colour” was a result of the more than 97% grass-fed diet of the company’s West Coast dairy cows.
A centuries-old churning method built into the butter plant that Westland commissioned in 2022 in Hokitika is used to process cream into butter.
New Zealand’s tastiest supermarket butter has been revealed. Photo / Consumer NZ
Turnbull said this was a slower processing method that creates a higher-quality product.
“The most important ingredient to making butter as good as Westland does is the time spent perfecting the craft involved in making butter,” he said.
Turnbull said staff in the butter team have spent an average of 20,000 hours producing butter.
Westland cream senior production manager, Dean Robinson, has celebrated more than 30 years of service.
“Our butter team has more accumulated knowledge than any other team at Westland and, potentially, more knowledge than any other butter producers in the country,” Robinson said.
Sales of Westgold butter have grown by around 40% over the past four years in New Zealand.
