With 325 H-E-B locations in Texas alone (out of the 380 total in the US), Naturli' will debut its vegan butters in the retail chain’s plant-based section.
“Vegan butters are known to be a healthier and more sustainable choice — they are lower in saturated fat and cholesterol compared to traditional butter, and they have a lower environmental impact,” the company stated in a recent press release.
Driven by recent price hikes on dairy butters and a growing demand for dairy-free and sustainable food alternatives, Naturli’s CEO Henrik Lund explained its vegan plant butter meets consumer demands for an “increased focus on taste and quality in plant-based alternatives and refuse to trade down or compromise when choosing to go green.”
Between 2023 and 2033, the vegan butter market is expected to exceed $4.8 billion with a projected CAGR of 5%. Driven by a growing demand from consumers for healthier options, vegan alternatives to butter, cheese and spreads continue to evolve in taste, texture, performance and ingredient selection. As is the challenge for the general plant-based food category, higher ingredient costs and scalability are an ongoing area of improvement.
Made from a blend of cocoa and almond butter, coconut oil and canola oil and devoid of dairy and palm oil, Naturli' is “made to resemble the taste and function of butter…without the use of animals that both release emissions and could use a break from their daily trips to the milking line,” Lund remarked to FoodNavigator-USA
“It really tastes like butter as you know it, and you can use it just the way you’re used to – for cooking, baking, frying or just spreading it on a sandwich or bagel,” he added.
Lund explained that consumers usually stick with a brand “for years and perhaps even through life,” which drives the brand’s strategy to prioritize taste and quality and connect with more mainstream consumers, while expanding the dairy alternative segment.
“Naturli’ plant butter speaks to what our consumers want and love: the taste and function of their familiar and beloved butter. Danes really, really love butter, so you can’t mess too much with their butter. And that’s also been a success for us in our export markets: the familiar taste of real butter,” he remarked.
As sustainability initiatives continue to shape the plant-based segment and consumer preferences for transparency and environmental safety, Naturli' assesses its environmental impact through third-party Life Cycle Assessments to “have a comparison with the products we’re replacing,” Lund commented.
