The Masked Tulip Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 For the last few years I have been paying between £1.20 and £1.40 for a block of Anchor butter. Frequently, the supermarkets would have it on discount for a £1.00 or 2 for £2.00, etc. I have been buying Anchor butter because: 1. Taste. 2. The milk in the butter comes from cows which graze all year on grass - something all you hunter-gatherer diet followers will be aware of as being important. Well, no more. In the last 1 to 2 months I have noticed the price of Anchor butter has been creeping up almost weekly. Yesterday, in various supermarkets it was £1.60 to £1.80 - naturally, I assumed that this was due to the cost of shipping it from NZ. Also, the taste has changed in recent months. I didn't mind paying a bit more for Anchor, bearing in mind the shipping costs, but now it is between 20p and 60p more than a similar UK or EU block of butter. I thought the Kiwis were having a laff... so I did some research. In August the firm that owns Anchor butter began making Anchor butter in the UK - they now use milk from UK cows so, because of our climate, the cows will no longer be grass-fed and out in the fields 365 days a year like the cows in NZ. What a cheek! The butter is now coming from somewhere in the UK so global shipping costs no longer exist - and the s*dding price has soared as a result. Well, I have bought my last block of Anchor butter. Thought it would be worthwhile all you lot knowing who liked the original taste or who bought it for health reasons. http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/fmcg/fresh/dairy/arla-moves-anchor-butter-production-to-the-uk/232185.article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted December 21, 2012 Author Share Posted December 21, 2012 If you can afford it and have a posh butcher, better yet is wild game like venison, pheasant and rabbit. It will certainly have been living the ideal life up until the moment it was shot too, so more humane than a farmed animal. Might partially explain why the royals live so long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inflating Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 For the last few years I have been paying between £1.20 and £1.40 for a block of Anchor butter. Frequently, the supermarkets would have it on discount for a £1.00 or 2 for £2.00, etc. I have been buying Anchor butter because: 1. Taste. 2. The milk in the butter comes from cows which graze all year on grass - something all you hunter-gatherer diet followers will be aware of as being important. Well, no more. In the last 1 to 2 months I have noticed the price of Anchor butter has been creeping up almost weekly. Yesterday, in various supermarkets it was £1.60 to £1.80 - naturally, I assumed that this was due to the cost of shipping it from NZ. Also, the taste has changed in recent months. I didn't mind paying a bit more for Anchor, bearing in mind the shipping costs, but now it is between 20p and 60p more than a similar UK or EU block of butter. I thought the Kiwis were having a laff... so I did some research. In August the firm that owns Anchor butter began making Anchor butter in the UK - they now use milk from UK cows so, because of our climate, the cows will no longer be grass-fed and out in the fields 365 days a year like the cows in NZ. What a cheek! The butter is now coming from somewhere in the UK so global shipping costs no longer exist - and the s*dding price has soared as a result. Well, I have bought my last block of Anchor butter. Thought it would be worthwhile all you lot knowing who liked the original taste or who bought it for health reasons. http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/fmcg/fresh/dairy/arla-moves-anchor-butter-production-to-the-uk/232185.article If you can find it (try Waitrose), I'd recommend Wheelbarrow butter. Easy to remember as wheelbarrows come up a lot in conversation these days on the forum, thanks to Merv's big red print button http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10317-10001-21276-Wheelbarrow+Dutch+unsalted+butter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@contradevian Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 I've been buying Yorkshire Butter from Sainsburys for £1.40. However I note today following your thread that Yorkshire Butter is yet another Arla Foods Brand like Anchor. It is supposedly churned at a dairy in Settle but God knows where the milk actually comes from. Arla is owned by 10,600 milk producers in Sweden and Denmark. http://en.wikipedia....i/Arla_Foods_UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuggets Mahoney Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 For the last few years I have been paying between £1.20 and £1.40 for a block of Anchor butter. Frequently, the supermarkets would have it on discount for a £1.00 or 2 for £2.00, etc. If you fancy a giggle check out the price of butter in NZ @ two NZ$ to the £... Countdown Supermarket Shipping costs have little to do with it. FX a lot more so. I've paid less, much less, for bottles of Kiwi wine in London that they were on sale at the wineries back in Godzown. Meat's the same. edit: NB Kiwi butter comes in 500g packs as opposed to 250g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Banner Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 If you can afford it and have a posh butcher, better yet is wild game like venison, pheasant and rabbit. It will certainly have been living the ideal life up until the moment it was shot too, so more humane than a farmed animal. But man has a mutually beneficial relationship with farm animals. Man looks after them, feeds them, keeps them warm and protects them from predators, until the moment that man becomes the predator. So perhaps farm animals live the ideal life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigantic Purple Slug Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 For the last few years I have been paying between £1.20 and £1.40 for a block of Anchor butter. Frequently, the supermarkets would have it on discount for a £1.00 or 2 for £2.00, etc. I have been buying Anchor butter because: 1. Taste. 2. The milk in the butter comes from cows which graze all year on grass - something all you hunter-gatherer diet followers will be aware of as being important. Well, no more. In the last 1 to 2 months I have noticed the price of Anchor butter has been creeping up almost weekly. Yesterday, in various supermarkets it was £1.60 to £1.80 - naturally, I assumed that this was due to the cost of shipping it from NZ. Also, the taste has changed in recent months. I didn't mind paying a bit more for Anchor, bearing in mind the shipping costs, but now it is between 20p and 60p more than a similar UK or EU block of butter. I thought the Kiwis were having a laff... so I did some research. In August the firm that owns Anchor butter began making Anchor butter in the UK - they now use milk from UK cows so, because of our climate, the cows will no longer be grass-fed and out in the fields 365 days a year like the cows in NZ. What a cheek! The butter is now coming from somewhere in the UK so global shipping costs no longer exist - and the s*dding price has soared as a result. Well, I have bought my last block of Anchor butter. Thought it would be worthwhile all you lot knowing who liked the original taste or who bought it for health reasons. http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/fmcg/fresh/dairy/arla-moves-anchor-butter-production-to-the-uk/232185.article Could you actually taste the difference between the old stuff and the new stuff ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHERWICK Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 But man has a mutually beneficial relationship with farm animals. Man looks after them, feeds them, keeps them warm and protects them from predators, until the moment that man becomes the predator. So perhaps farm animals live the ideal life. Sounds like Communism... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habeas Domus Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 I wonder if theres money to be made shipping butter back to NZ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffneck Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 People here complaining that some manufacturing has been brought BACK to the UK.Thats a new one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted December 21, 2012 Author Share Posted December 21, 2012 Could you actually taste the difference between the old stuff and the new stuff ? Yes. That special/different anchor butter taste has now gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted December 21, 2012 Author Share Posted December 21, 2012 People here complaining that some manufacturing has been brought BACK to the UK.Thats a new one This is not about manufacturing - it is about quality and taste... and cost also for that matter. Had a conversation with a lady in Tesco about it today. She said she had noticed the same thing in recent months and had changed butters but did not know why the Anchor had gone so bad - she recommended a good Welsh butter so I opted for that. Edit: About 40p cheaper than Anchor as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 I'm shocked. Next you'll be telling me that Boddingtons isn't made in Manchester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patfig Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 If you fancy a giggle check out the price of butter in NZ @ two NZ$ to the £... Countdown Supermarket Shipping costs have little to do with it. FX a lot more so. I've paid less, much less, for bottles of Kiwi wine in London that they were on sale at the wineries back in Godzown. Meat's the same. edit: NB Kiwi butter comes in 500g packs as opposed to 250g i found the beef in NZ to be outstanding compared to the supermarket crap here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted December 21, 2012 Author Share Posted December 21, 2012 i found the beef in NZ to be outstanding compared to the supermarket crap here Will be - all grass fed 365 days a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie The Tramp Returns Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 New Zealand butter we`re in the EU now the Kiwis have found better markets for their products. No longer as in the old days of my Mum when it was New Zealand meat and dairy products she bought at a very reasonable price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmarks Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 That's a triple whammy. If you want to understand why it costs more to produce in this country look no further than - you guessed it - property prices. Bunch of anchors. Carry on much more like that and they'll be toast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmarks Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 People here complaining that some manufacturing has been brought BACK to the UK.Thats a new one What made the product special, among other things, was that it was made in New Zealand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuggets Mahoney Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 People here complaining that some manufacturing has been brought BACK to the UK.Thats a new one Quite, this topic may should even be on the main board. A few years ago a £ got you almost three NZ$. Now down to just under a couple NZ$. Something has to give. And looking down the line a few years... Pengxin completes New Zealand dairy farms purchase Shanghai Pengxin Group Co Ltd has completed the purchase of 16 dairy farms in New Zealand, after spending nearly two years convincing authorities in the country that the deal is beneficial to the local economy.Pengxin Group, a privately owned group with businesses interests from property development to modern agriculture, first bid to buy the farms for NZ$210 million ($172 million) in June 2010... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Banner Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 New Zealand butter we`re in the EU now the Kiwis have found better markets for their products. No longer as in the old days of my Mum when it was New Zealand meat and dairy products she bought at a very reasonable price. If you had relatives in New Zealand they would send you vouchers which you could exchange for New Zealand lamb in the shops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuggets Mahoney Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 i found the beef in NZ to be outstanding compared to the supermarket crap here Some of the beef comes from Australia rather than NZ (not necessarily a bad thing) and the Kiwi supermarkets have started to pump their prepacked chicken full of saline but I agree, generally speaking, the meat is of noticeably better quality. Certain cuts are much more popular and readily available than in the UK. I'm thinking particularly of silverside. I used to slow cook mounds of the stuff when I lived down there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 TBH on the rare occasions that I've bought NZ Anchor I've found it to be less pleasant than cheapo Lidl or Sainsburys Basics butter. I'm not really a connoisseur when it comes to food mind- all I look for in a butter is fat and salt (I really can't stand unsalted butter). But I always thought the taste of Anchor was noticeably less pleasant than the generic British stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sombreroloco Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 You can make butter yourself from whole milk yourself. Just pour it in a jar and shake for 3-4 minutes. When it starts becoming solid, stop and leave in the fridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 You can make butter yourself from whole milk yourself. Just pour it in a jar and shake for 3-4 minutes. When it starts becoming solid, stop and leave in the fridge. Surely you'd be better off using double cream?! In any case, you still have the problem of whether your milk/cream is from cows that are solely grass-fed, which is what is exercising TMT. I personally don't particularly care if my cows eat soy meal, beets etc., just as long as it's not laced with hormones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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