Beyond Peanut Butter: Alternative Butters are Trending

Since consumers are shedding the sugars and focusing on good fats, local and national grocery stores are spreading alternative butter options across their shelves.

In the last few years, United States consumers have eaten a pound more in butter each year than they were eating a decade ago, per Food Business News. In fact, this shift to natural fats has caused quite the boom for the global retail butter sales in general as Euromonitor International reported that 2018’s $19.4B in sales alone outpaced typical sales volume growth by almost 50%. On top of sales, Whole Foods’ annual food trends report listed alternative spreads and nut butters as one of their top ten trends of 2020 thanks to its nutritional value and, of course, it’s popular taste.

Whole Foods’ press release reported: “It helps the trend that spreads and butters are touting paleo and keto-friendly attributes, but transparency is also a key player.” Speaking to sustainability, the corporate release continued: “Many brands are looking to… use nuts that are grown in ways with less likelihood for environmental impact.”

For consumers chasing great taste from their spreads, cutting carbs was just the beginning.

The trend continues to butter its popularity for all its worth by releasing high end, gourmet flavors like watermelon seed butter, macadamia nut butter, roasted pumpkin seed butter and chickpea butter. There’s something to satisfy any craving (or nut allergy).

The Health Benefits of Alternative Butters:

As Whole Foods noted, the alternative butters are paleo and keto-friendly and feature the monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats that can lower your risk for heart and cholesterol issues.

Depending on the type of spread, health benefits may vary, but they’re plentiful and it’s no surprise why they’re growing in popularity.

Looking to add more magnesium and zinc to your system? Try watermelon seed butter. Need to pack extra protein and fiber in the diet? Bring on the chickpea butter. Time to lower bad cholesterol levels while improving your heart health and metabolism? Macadamia nut butter is among the healthiest option of the bunch. Just need to satisfy a sweet tooth and are less concerned about nutritional value? You’ll love some coconut butter or cookie butter.

Plus, a lot of consumers are looking to bypass dairy and still have a creamy, delicious spread to share at the dinner table. Just like dairy-free milk options, nuts like almonds, cashews and sunflowers are prominent players in the alternative butter world. But macadamia nuts continue to be the fan favorite thanks to their paleo and keto-friendly attributes.

Make Your Own Alternative Butters

Thanks to the internet, there’s a myriad of plant-based butter recipes for you to consider. And vegans aren’t the only ones who get to enjoy the alternative butter craze. Anyone who wants to use natural fats over oils can find an allergen-free recipe that helps control the added sugars and salts that make up many of the grocery store products.

We recommend using a couple of natural, powdered ingredients to bring out the most flavor in your alt-butter, including our fermented rice extract powder that provides a rich, umami taste or our red miso powder to give it that salty, meaty flavor.

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Whenever you’re looking to amplify the taste of your food this year, consider Nikken Food’s pantry of all-natural ingredients to give it the finishing touch. Learn more about alternative butters and the latest food trends by speaking with one of our sales professionals.