WIllie Jackson and Paul Goldsmith do a blind taste test on US butter and NZ butter. Video / Ryan Bridge TODAY
Imported US butter is being sold in Kiwi supermarkets at prices cheaper than homegrown brands.
The Burtfield’s & Co brand butter is on the shelves at Foodstuff’s Pak’nSave supermarkets for $6.99 per 500g block, with the closest rival, Pams, priced at $7.19.
Other popular Kiwi brands are retailing at $7.69(Anchor) and $8.29 (Mainland) at Pak’nSave today.
Synlait Milk-owned Dairyworks produces the new brand after importing the product from the US, BusinessDesk reported.
The butter is now being sold on trial at North Island Pak’nSave supermarkets, and will be introduced at South Island Pak’nSave and New World supermarkets next week, Dairyworks sales general manager Mark Simpson told Ryan Bridge TODAY.
“We are big supporters of New Zealand dairy but our role is to provide choice ... we’ll get some feedback and go from there.
“I think it tastes fantastic – we encourage consumers to give it a try.”
Burtfield's & Co butter trial brings US imports to NZ fridges. Image / NZME
The cost of butter has been an ongoing financial pain point for Kiwis, with the average 500g block peaking at $8.59 in July last year, and swollen food prices generally continue to put the screws on both shoppers and a Government keen to hold on to their votes.
Grocery prices in New Zealand have vexed the public and politicians for years. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Dairyworks had imported four to six weeks’ supply of the US butter, depending on consumer demand, said Simpson.
There had been a “window of opportunity” to import butter from the US at a cost that “brought some choice and hopefully a little bit of value to the New Zealand consumer”, he said.
“Global markets move around a bit. The US is producing more milk than they can consume themselves and therefore they’re now looking to export a little bit of butter at a cost that came in slightly lower than what we’re producing here in New Zealand.”
Two senior MPs were among early taste testers of the imported butter, which is a paler colour than New Zealand butter because US cows are more likely to be grain-fed, whereas Kiwi cows are more likely to munch on grass.
Labour’s Willie Jackson and National’s Paul Goldsmith donned eye masks to each blind taste test two slices of butter-slathered white bread during their morning debate on Ryan Bridge TODAY.
Labour MP Willie Jackson and National MP Paul Goldsmith try to guess which butter is which in a blind taste test on Ryan Bridge TODAY.
Goldsmith failed, mixing up the origins of each butter.
“He’s not really a Kiwi,” responded Jackson, who’d correctly identified the origin of each butter.
“In my defence”, said Goldsmith, “I hadn’t had breakfast.”
