NEW YORK — Funded by The French Dairy Inter-Branch Organization (CNIEL) and the European Union, the new Butter of Europe marketing campaign is launching this spring in the US with the goal to change the way you cook and eat your food. With a fresh new look, strong social media presence and partnerships with American chefs and culinary networks that will produce mouth-watering content all year-long, butter is poised to be on everyone’s lips in 2019.
Why Is European Butter Relevant Today?
According to the Communication Campaign EU Butter in the USA, annual US per capita butter consumption has increased by almost one pound in the last ten years. Why is Americans’ love for butter increasing so much? Americans are understanding that for starters, it is a true revealer of flavors: it holds aromas, prolongs the taste of food and provides a refined hint of flavor.
But European butter brings something else to the table. It is also the only fatty substance that naturally contains vitamin A, which improves vision and growth, helps fight infections and protects the skin from external aggressions. Butter also contains vitamin D, an essential component for the immune system.
The Different Types of Butter
European-style butter is cultured with lactic ferments that make it thicken, acidify and develop a certain taste. This cultured butter is churned longer to achieve at least 82 percent butterfat and is what gives EU butter its distinctive flavor. Butter production in Europe is strictly regulated: In France, there are three protected designation of origins (PDOs): Poitou-Charentes, Isigny and Bresse. Here are a few different types of butter:
- Spreadable butter: After being melted, butter is progressively cooled and the external part that remains soft at low temperatures is collected and kneaded with regular butter to which it provides its ability to be easily spread.
- Unsalted, Semi-Salted and Salted butter: Unsalted butter is obtained simply by churning the cream. It can then be mixed with a precise amount of salt to create semi-salted and salted butter.
- Organic butter: As with organic dairy products, organic butter is made from organic milk. To meet the requirement the cows producing the milk are raised according to strict rules associated with the standards of organic farming.
- Fine and Extra-fine butter: These classic types of butter are 82% in fat and made from pasteurized cream. For extra-fine butter production must take place 72 hours after the milk is collected and churning must take place within 48 and is obtained exclusively from pasteurized cream, which has never been frozen.
- Low-Fat butter: Moderately low fat compared to other standard butters made from light cream and pasteurized.
- Churned butter or Raw Butter: This tasty and rich butter is obtained from raw cream made by vigorously stirring the cream in a churn. It is unpasteurized and must be consumed rapidly.
- Butter of culture: Sold under the names “antique butter,” “old-fashioned butter” or “yesteryear,” this butter can be salted or not, but will always preserve its delicate creamy taste.
- Flavored butter: Salted butter to which garlic, herbs or spices are added. Tasty and practical, it replaces homemade flavored butter.
About the Butter of Europe Campaign
The three-year campaign conducted by CNIEL and the European Union is taking place in different countries around the world. In the US, it will include partnerships with chef networks, activities with the trade, a public relations campaign and the creation of two new social media pages: @ButterofEurope on Instagram and Facebook. The main objective of this new campaign is to raise awareness among chefs and foodies of the quality, taste, diversity and traditions of EU butters, their nutritional and health aspects as well as the representation of the taste and flavor embodied by butters imported from Europe.
About Butter of Europe
The Butter of Europe Marketing Campaign, orchestrated by CNIEL (The French Dairy Inter-Branch Organization) and co-funded by the European Union, was designed to create awareness for the variety of European butters available in the US market and to suggest ways that American consumers can incorporate butter into their diets, recipes and lifestyles. The campaign’s goal is to increase the appeal of European butter and strengthen their competitive position within the growing specialty butter category.
For more information, please visit our social media pages: @ButterofEurope on Instagram and Facebook.
The content of this advertisement represents the author’s point of view only and is the sole responsibility of the author. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
