Spread the word: Flavoured butter is booming

The supermarket chain’s annual food and drink report said sales were “through the roof” this year.

“Fuelled by the ButterTok trend, it has become a social media star,” the report reads.

“Recipes for cowboy butter and elaborate butter boards are everywhere, with restaurants following suit by serving whipped and flavoured butters with bread courses.”

The ButterTok trend highlights butter as a gourmet, versatile ingredient rather than just a basic staple, inspiring home cooks to get creative with flavour combinations.

Waitrose has now launched new butters flavoured by smoked paprika and chilli, and roasted garlic and herb.

Thomas Straker is among those driving the flavoured butter trend

The social media trend, driven by people making videos of themselves experimenting with new flavourings, is said to have been inspired by Thomas Straker, the British chef, restaurateur and online phenomenon.

He has since launched All Things Butter, a flavoured butter brand, which offers chocolate, cinnamon bun and truffle butters. He raised £2m in investment in October to fuel expansion.

Straker’s All Things Butter brand has taken off

Elsewhere, Waitrose found demand is also soaring for “artisanal” condiments like North African red chilli harissa paste, the spicy Korean bibimbap sauce and chamoy, a Mexican dip made from pickled fruit, chillies and lime juice.

The chain found that because of a surge in “condiment bragging”, 60 per cent of households now have at least six different ones in their fridge.

The trend involves cooks showing off their culinary sophistication by “posting photos of your perfectly curated luxury kitchen staples”.

“There was a time when ketchup, mayonnaise and maybe a jar of pesto were all we had in our fridges – and they haven’t gone anywhere,” the report reads.

“But goodness, they have a diverse, divine-looking collection of companions now.

“Call it the lipstick effect 2.0 if you will – when times are tough, it’s the small luxuries that we turn to.”

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Emilie Wolfman, trend innovation manager at Waitrose, said “condiment bragging” involved “treating premium, artisan sauces and visually gorgeous condiments as small, accessible luxuries”.

“This is all about elevating the everyday. Customers are looking for premium, often ‘restaurant-quality’ options – like those from Ottolenghi or Gymkhana – where beautiful packaging and unique flavours transform simple, home-cooked meals into an elevated experience,” she said.

“And these beauties are no longer banished to the back of the fridge. People are embracing the display, showcasing their diverse, globally-influenced and divine-looking collection of condiment companions.”

Condiments that are “multitasking” and can be “used as a sauce, marinade or dressing” are particularly popular, including harissa paste.

Ssamjang, a chilli and soybean Korean condiment, is tipped by Waitrose as one to ‘watch out for’

Others are popularised on social media platforms, including umami paste, a concentrated version of the savoury flavour, bibimbap sauce and gochujang hot honey, a mixture of the viral flavours made from sun-dried chilli peppers and fermented soy beans.

Waitrose also tipped ssamjang, another chilli and soybean Korean condiment, and chamoy as ones to “watch out for”.

“When times are tough economically, people do come for us for an affordable treat, particularly as they want to find easy ways to elevate the dining experience at home, rather than going out,” said Jay Ledwich, a crisp buyer at the supermarket.

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Elsewhere, Waitrose found that the increased use of weight-loss jabs meant “an increasing number of us are choosing to replace meals with snacking foods”.

A poll of 4,400 customers found that 57 per cent had replaced meals with snack-type foods.

“More than a third of customers told us that they can’t be bothered to cook, or don’t always feel hungry enough for a full meal,” the report said.

Artisanal loaves of bread were surging at the expense of sliced loaves, while customers were “checking processed ingredients” more often than calorie counting.

Sales of canned and jarred beans have increased by 45 per cent in the last year because of a “growing trend for fibrous foods”.

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“Customers are looking to buy pork cuts that you would normally associate with beef – from free range, pedigree and Hampshire boars – including free-range pork fillets, T-bone steaks, short ribs and rib eye steaks,” said the report.

“The upside is that pork is a fraction of the cost, with a fillet costing around £20 per kg, while beef fillet is £80 per kg or more, for example.”

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