Driven by the movement toward food that contains natural ingredients as well as the foodie and gourmet cooking trends, butter consumption in the United States has reached its highest level in 40 years, dairy industry leaders say.
Where margarine and other spreads were once hailed as healthier alternatives to butter, the pendulum may have swung back in butter's favor. That matters in Wisconsin, where nearly 12,000 dairy farms and their 1.3 million cows annually produce 3.2 billion gallons of milk, the raw material for butter.
In the middle of the trend is Grassland Dairy Products Inc. in Greenwood, whose plants make about a third of the nation's butter. Grassland is the largest family-owned butter company in the United States.
"We're busy," said Trevor Wuethrich, a vice president at Grassland and the fourth generation of the Wuethrich family to work at the company, which was founded by John Wuethrich in 1904. "We're definitely seeing butter consumption go up."
Busy, too, is Al Bekkum, whose family-owned Nordic Creamery in Westby is hard-pressed to meet demand for its butter. "At the end of the week — every week — our coolers are empty," Bekkum said. "We just can't keep up."
Some of the increase in butter consumption is due to a shift in consumer preferences away from processed foods, artificial ingredients and trans fats derived from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month began the process of banning trans fats from the American food supply.
"They (consumers) want to see something that is wholesome and not a lot of other ingredients in it," Smukowski said. "They are looking for something that is pure and good to eat."
"Butter is as natural as you can get," Wuethrich said. "It's cream and salt."
More on this story here.
Eddie
2 comments:
A few years ago I was shocked by a survey which found that a high percentage of 16 year olds in this country, thought that butter came from chickens. I found it almost incredible.
Over the past few years I have come to understand their confusion. I have never eaten anything but butter -can't even tolerate the unsalted kind. If its not butter I prefer to go without. This does not mean however, that I eat it with a spoon or snack on it.
Many antis appear to believe that we do and even those who profess to be low carb send the message sometimes that its healthy to do so. Its always necessary to remember the bigger picture.
I am thinking of calories and weight gain. This won't be an issue for most people of course, only for those struggling with weight issues Perhaps.
If they eat a lot of starchy carbs and then add huge amounts of butter as well, the health benefits for them will be negated,
This article is great news though.
Shows that Americans are thinking more about nutrition.
This can only be beneficial to us also as they drive the markets.
Kath
I think butter consumption is up generally. That is good.
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