Since their debut on holiday tables in 1958, Keller’s Butter Sculptures have become a festive tradition in households across the country.
This holiday season, Keller’s Creamery, owned by Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), will unveil advanced packaging for its butter sculptures. When the first Keller’s butter sculpture was produced more than 55 years ago, it was created from a wooden hand-pressed mold and shaped into the form of a lamb in observance of the Easter holiday. Today, Keller’s offers three, seasonal 4-ounce butter sculptures in the shape of a Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas tree and an Easter lamb.
“This December, shoppers will be able to purchase the company’s first Christmas trees utilizing the new packaging that promises to provide a more detailed sculpture design,” said Ashley Campbell, Keller’s Creamery senior associate brand manager.
The new packaging includes a molded, plastic casing with easy-to-open tabs that allow convenient access to the butter. The process of pouring the butter directly into the plastic allows for greater detail to key features of the sculptures, such as the tree’s branches and the turkey’s feathers.
“Customers will definitely see added detail to the sculptures. The new packaging offers much better definition,” Campbell said.
In prior years, the butter was molded and then packaged into a container that supplied structural support only to the base of the butter and not the entire sculpture.
“The plastic now encasing the entire sculpture not only provides the butter additional support, but also decreased manufacturing time” said Paul Johnson, manager of purchasing for DFA.
“Due to increased demand over the last few years, we looked into opportunities which would help us be more responsive to the retailers and also provide a more durable product for the consumers,” Johnson said.
The arrival of the new packaging is well timed as the demand for all three seasonal sculptures continues to grow with each production year. Orders for the Christmas trees alone doubled over the last two years.
The new packages will kick off with this year’s Christmas trees and be available with all three sculpture designs in 2014.
Source: Dairy Farmers of America (DFA)
