I like to think I’m ahead of the butter curve, but it’s having such a moment right now that I’m not sure anyone can keep up.
The rise in popularity of real butter is somewhat curious. Not long ago, we were all bemoaning the sudden surge in price of both butter and blended spreads, while the health benefits of an extra virgin olive oil-heavy Mediterranean diet seemed to drown out the value of any other fats.
But instead of cutting back, our butter consumption has soared. At the same time, it has entered the cultural conversation, with food artists Laila Gohar and Imogen Kwok sculpting in butter and collectors boasting of their diverse hoards of different varieties. A shop dedicated to the stuff, Le Butter, opened in Paris earlier this year, while the onward march of butter-themed merch seems to know no bounds. As well as socks, magnets and a bookmark, I have a bespoke gold-foil framed artwork of the word on my kitchen wall. I was so proud when my daughter brought home a butter stick squishy.
In October 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics, the average price of a block of butter was £1.44. By January 2025, the most recent data, it had risen to £2.43. Manufacturers have tried to hide this rise with shrinkflation, with beloved household brands including Lurpak, Country Life, Kerrygold and Anchor reducing blocks from 250g to 200g, but I’ve found some passable supermarket blocks at £1.85 for 250g.
Since then, butter has gone increasingly highbrow, with independent brands such as All Things Butter launching flavours from truffle and chilli to cinnamon bun and chocolate. Some shoppers are looking for “clean label” whole foods in order to avoid ultra-processed products, while younger consumers are attracted by the novelty of flavoured butters, viral TikTok recipes, and the questionable health craze of eating butter by the block.
Value sales of butter in the UK have risen by 12.3 per cent in the twelve months to February 2026, according to Worldpanel by Numerator data, reported by The Grocer. Though volume sales are somewhat more modest, at 1.9 per cent, this does show we’re committed to butter whatever the price, despite the fact most blocks are around 80 per cent fat, of which 50 per cent is saturated fat. More recent data, from May 2026, shows that shoppers are switching allegiance to the supermarkets’ premium own-label butters over the pricier brands.
I am a huge fan of the farm-heavy tang of a strong cultured butter, such as Fen Farm Dairy’s Bungay, a raw cultured butter that costs £8.50 for 200g. However it can take me a long time to get through this kind of churned delicacy because it has too much character to pair with much other than good bread. In restaurants, or at a hotel breakfast, it’s a delight to spy a round pat of Netherend Farm, an organic product from Gloucestershire that’s served on the Orient Express. And controversially, while I love salt, I find the fancy butters with added salt crystals are often too salty; I prefer to sprinkle my own.
“Butter is far superior to oil and other fats,” says Daniel Rogan, an experienced fine dining chef and owner of AO in Southampton. “It doesn’t just transfer heat or lubricate foods, it contributes to flavour, aroma, texture and complexity.”
The bakers Sophia Handschuh of Sourdough Sophia and Francisco Oliveira of Santa Nata, both tell me they can’t get the results they need without good quality butter. Handschuh recommends looking for a good French supermarket butter for decent lamination at home, while Oliveira, who uses a Normandy butter in his pastel de nata, Portuguese custard tarts, recommends buying The Estate Dairy.
I adore butter but I’m happy to admit I don’t always use it. I buy spread because butter is almost impossible to keep at a spreadable temperature and therefore too annoying to make sandwiches with in the morning.
I most often cook with olive oil, but there are plenty of dishes in which only butter will do. “For me, it’s essential to cook mushrooms, scrambled eggs and white fish with butter,” says Rogan. “For mushrooms, butter adds a nutty and savoury depth. With scrambled eggs, it creates a luxurious mouthfeel. And with white fish, the butter adds richness to the fish, especially when you haven’t got time for a sauce.
Président Slightly Salted Butter – WINNER
£3.65/250g or £14.60/kg from Tesco
Use for: The best ever morning toast. I love a salty butter on a slightly sweet bread.
I will never tire of the pale, salted elegance of a block of Président, a butter that will always seem chic next to its frumpier, yellower, British cousins. As well as its light colour, I love the fact it tastes as if the cows have dined on wildflower meadows. Diet really shines through in a quality butter.
5/5
Kerrygold Salted Butter
£2 for 200g or £10/kg from Asda
Use for: Showing off. Irish food is having as much of a moment as butter itself
I hadn’t paid much attention to Kerrygold until I saw, on a trip to New York in 2024, how much Americans were paying for a block of the stuff – $8-$10! That’s equivalent to between £6 and £7.50, so I had to find out what all the fuss was about.
Made from Irish grass-fed cows, this lightly golden butter hits with a salty note before dissolving into a very rich and creamy treat. I’d choose thick slices of Kerrygold to top hot crumpets, teacakes and hot cross buns.
4/5
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Farmhouse Butter
£2.80/250g or £11.20/kg
Use for: Serve at dinner with sourdough
Products like this explain why shoppers are moving from brands to supermarket premium ranges, with value increasing by 11.6 per cent in the year to February 2026 while brands stagnated. Although I include my favorite brands here, that accurately reflects the direction of my shopping, too. This is more yellow than I tend to like, but I love the complex grassy flavour that comes from the Somerset Barber’s cream and Maldon salt.
4/5
Aldi Cowbelle British Unsalted Butter
£1.85/250g or £7.40/kg
Use for: baking
While you can taste the quality of the butter used in baking, for everyday family baking, it’s too expensive and seems profligate to use a block that costs twice the price of Aldi’s bargain Cowbelle block. This butter is fairly mild in flavour but has a decent creamy texture. It’s on-trend and very often delicious to add a salty edge to your baking output, but I think this is better done by using unsalted butter and adding salt to your bake, whether that’s sea salt on top of cookies or mixed into a chocolate or salted caramel cake.
3/5
Yeo Valley Organic Salted Butter
£3.65/200g or £17.45/kg from Sainsbury’s
Use for: Eggs and fish
An unmistakable farmy butter, which leads with grassiness before the salt kicks in. I buy this less frequently since it’s one of the more expensive blocks, but I do have a soft spot for Yeo Valley dairy products, even though the milk, butter, spread and cheese part of the business has been sold to food giant Arla Foods. Nonetheless, it tastes brilliant.
4/5
M&S Salted British Butter
£1.85/250g or £7.40/kg
Use for: An ideal all-rounder, for spreading, baking and cooking
I’ve only just clocked that this is just as cheap as the Aldi butter and I do prefer its slightly more subtle flavour so I’m making a note to pick it up more often from now on. It’s another great example of where the brands soar in price and supermarkets step in to plug the gap with affordable quality.
3.5/5