4 Scottish butter brands to support - as Lurpak rises to over £9 in some supermarkets

One of these that has hit the headlines is Lurpak, one of the most commonly available spreadable butter brands, which has risen to between £5-£9 in some supermarkets.

Why is Lurpak so expensive?

The BBC reports that the butter brand has increased the price of their products to help make sure that dairy farmers receive a “fair deal”.

In a statement, Lurpak’s owner, Arla Foods, have said that dairy farmers have lost money recently due to the rising cost of fuel and fertiliser.

With this in mind, we take a look at some independent Scottish butter companies and dairies to support during this time.

The Edinburgh Butter Co.

Husband and wife duo Hilary and Nick launched this award-winning company in 2018 after a few years running a successful supper club.

The team explain how they make their butter, saying: “We source our cream locally from an independent dairy, it is cultured to create a thick and silky crème fraiche, then slow churned in batches to create a butter that is deep and rich in flavour and silky in texture.”

The Edinburgh Butter Co. supply many luxury hotels in Scotland, as well as award-winning restaurants, cafes and bakeries and you can buy their butter (priced around £3.25 for 200g) in a number of shops including Valvona & Crolla, East Coast Cured, Craigies Farmshop & Deli and Dunbar Garden Centre.

Graham’s

One of the most commonly found butters, Graham’s has spreadable butter as well as blocks of salted (including an Isle of Skye sea salt version) and unsalted butter plus organic butters.

The family dairy has been running for years, and the butter started with Grandma Isabella Graham.

A post on their website reads: “Grandma Isabella Graham was a lovely woman, and a real dairy alchemist, transforming milk into deliciously rich creamy butter. She would churn the butter for just the right length of time to create a taste no other butter could match. Graham’s buttery goodness – thanks Grandma!”

Now the company has a huge mechanical churn, which holds two tonnes of cream, which is turned into one tonne of butter and a machine packs the butter.

Graham’s is widely available from major supermarkets and retails for around £3.25 for 500g.

Katy Rodgers

Katy Rodger’s Dairy, based at Knockraich farm, has a range of natural dairy products made using milk from the farm’s pasture fed herd of 60 British Friesian cows. These include, yoghurt, crème fraiche, crowdie, ice cream, and butter.

The creamy lightly salted cultured butter retails at about £3 for 200g and is available from specialist shops such as Neighboufood and Provender Brown.

Strathearn Cheese Co.

As the name suggests, this company mainly makes cheese but they have recently won an award for their new wild garlic butter.

They also make a plain, slightly salted, cultured Strathearn butter.

Strathearn Cheese Co. was started by Drew Watson and Pierre Leger in 2016 and is based near Comrie in Perthshire.

You can buy their wares and various farmers’ markets, online and at specialist shops. Find out more here.