26-02-2009
Spread the news: Collier's launch new Welsh butter
A brand new Welsh butter especially created to tempt discerning Welsh taste buds will be launched this week.
Collier’s Welsh Valleys Butter will be launched across all 43 Welsh Tesco stores and has a flavour that the Welsh are hardwired to find irresistible -because of its slightly saltier taste.
The recipe combines freshly churned Carmarthenshire cream with two per cent sea salt which gives a rich, creamy, full flavour without a higher salt content. This will appeal to the Welsh palate that traditionally prefers salty flavours.
Professor Peter Stead is a Welsh Cultural Historian based at Swansea. He says that Wales’ liking for more salty foods could have several causes.
“Living near the coast we are used to the salty air,” he says. “We live in an Atlantic climate with heavy rainfall, so there is salt in the grass that our livestock eat, and it affects the flavour of the meat too.
“The Welsh economy was founded on manual labour such as mining and farming and sweating during physical work would increase the appetite for salt.
“There was plenty of salt in the diet because it was used as a preservative and that seems to have affected our taste buds today.”
Collier’s Welsh Valleys Butter shares the distinctive black packaging and branding of its sister dairy product, the award-winning Collier’s Powerful Welsh Cheddar, that last month won ‘Best Welsh Cheese’ at the Nantwich International Cheese Show, the world’s largest and most prestigious cheese exhibition. Both are marketed by Fayrefield Foods, the UK’s largest privately owned dairy company.
Collier’s Marketing Manager, Crickhowell-based Chris Swire says that despite falling demand for butter during the past 25 years, sales have now stabilised as discerning customers favour butter as a pure and natural product.
“In Wales we have always liked our butter to taste a little bit saltier and by using sea salt Collier’s offers all the flavour from a two per cent addition.
“Collier’s is a truly Welsh product – it is packed and distributed from Cross Hands. Collier’s Powerful Welsh Cheddar has a huge Welsh following and we are sure that Welsh shoppers will love the rich, creamy taste of Collier’s Welsh Valleys Butter.”
Mark Grant, Tesco Senior Buyer for Wales, says: "We are keen to source as many local products as we can and are therefore very pleased to be able to offer our customers yet another great product made in Wales. This is an exciting addition to the Collier’s range stocked by Tesco throughout Wales.”
