Butter sales pack a punch, while margarine market goes soft

New research from MINTEL finds Britons going back to butter, as margarine sales continue to melt away. In 2004, British consumers packed away a weighty 107,000 tonnes of butter, up 8% on 2002 figures, with volume sales set to hit the 110,000 tonne mark this year. Meanwhile, spending on butter increased by an even greater amount (15%) between 2002 and 2004, to reach some £363 million in 2004, with Brits expected to fork out a further £375 million on butter this year alone. What is more, in 2004 butter accounted for some 43% of the total £849 million yellow fats market, up from just 39% two years earlier. The main boost for the market has come from spreadable butter, which in volume terms increased by some 29% between 2002 and 2004 and by some 33% in value terms over the same period.