When it comes to butter, paying more doesn't necessarily pay off, a new taste test shows.
Consumer NZ ran a blind taste test of 11 types of butter available to New Zealand shoppers.
It said the worst rated was a Market Kitchen block of butter for sale at The Warehouse for $5.99 per 400g block.
The butter was made in New Zealand, but only had a two-out-of-five-star rating on The Warehouse website too.
It was the second-cheapest of the blocks tested, but samplers noted a "strange aftertaste".
The controversial US butter Burtfields & Co was second-worst. It was the cheapest butter tested at $6.99 per 500g.
"People were able to tell it was the American butter just based off the colour," Consumer NZ spokesperson Vanessa Pratley said.
"I tried it myself and a couple of other tasters also said it's just butter."
Pricier options did not fare as well as you might expect.
Lewis Road butter, which cost $8.99 per 250g at Woolworths this week, was third from the bottom.
The best was Westgold, made on the West Coast, selling for $9.29 for 400g at New World this week.
Second was Alpine, which was $8.49 for 500g at Woolworths, and Pam's butter, which was $8.29 for 500g at Pak'n Save.
"The winner was Westgold," Pratley said. "That is quite an expensive butter.
"We worked out, based on the price we paid, that it was about $2.32 per 100 grams, but the most expensive premium butters came towards the bottom-middle of the pack.
"Lewis Road Creamery was third from the bottom. Then we've got an organic butter by Macro, which is actually a Woolworths brand, sort of middle of the pack, and the same with Lurpak - they scored the same.
"Tasters weren't really here nor there or them. They didn't score in a premium way that you would expect."
Alpine and Pam's butter were good budget picks for people looking for decent butter, she said.
This story was first published on rnz.co.nz |  |
