A Cuppa With.. The Butterworks
We caught up with Hillfarm Oils this week and answered some questions so they could get to know us a bit better! Got five minutes? Pour yourself a nice cup of tea and pop a crumpet in the toaster, ready to get to know the family business behind The Butterworks!
Who are the people behind The Butterworks?
The Butterworks is owned and run by award-winning Welsh butter manufacturer, Castle Dairies – a family business that is besotted with butter!
Nigel Lloyd, our Managing Director, took over Castle Dairies from his father in 2000, having gained experience in the dairy industry from around the world, including New Zealand and Australia. Nigel has been able to apply his knowledge very successfully to the business working alongside our very talented team to grow the business further.
As we are a family business everyone here is very close knit and friendly and shows a very strong commitment and loyalty to the business.
How far back does The Butterworks’ butter-making history go?
Castle Dairies was established in 1966 and after 53 years of mastering every aspect of butter making and winning many awards, we launched The Butterworks in 2019. The Butterworks was launched as a new innovative brand aiming to bring new and exciting products to the marketplace and to hook in butter lovers all across the country.
What’s the secret to great butter?
Using our years of know-how, we carefully churn our high-quality cream to make the creamiest butter in the land. We believe that this is the key to what makes our butter taste so great.
We also pride ourselves on using only natural ingredients in our products to ensure we produce the finest quality products. We create all of our products with butter lovers in mind and want to make sure there is a product for everyone to love and adore.
Can you tell us about The Butterworks’ new range?
Our gloriously golden line-up includes Hillfarm spreadable butter, which is a blend of our delicious British butter and Hillfarm cold pressed rapeseed oil, to produce a luxuriously smooth spread, with a deep golden colour and a wonderful mild nutty flavour.
Our Cornish Butter with Cornish Sea Salt Crystals is inspired by the dramatic Cornish coast and countryside and and our award-winning Softer Butter, made with only butter and salt, is a product which combines our extensive expertise and know-how to develop a churning technique that creates a naturally softer butter, with no artificial colours or flavours added.
What inspired you to combine Hillfarm cold pressed rapeseed oil with your butter?
Here at the Butterworks we only work with natural products and ingredients. With spreadable tubs usually made using sunflower, vegetable or olive oil, we carefully selected your extra virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil for its health properties, traceability and versatility.
It was our desire for healthy products which made us realise that using cold pressed rapeseed oil would give us a more natural product with a better flavor and better colour, not to mention the nutritional health benefits, including omega 3,6 and 9, Vitamin E and K.
We have been working with Hillfarm to carefully combine their oil with our butter to produce a product you can spread easily from the fridge and bake with.
What feedback have you had about The Butterworks?
Our customers tell us that they are delighted with our new products. We exhibit at many food festivals, so we get lots of feedback from our customers. They love the variety that we offer and are very interested in what the differences are between the butters.
We have many comments about the golden colour and the deliciously nutty flavour of our Hillfarm spread, as well as people recognising the Hillfarm brand! We find many people are very health conscious, and that they love the Hillfarm spread due to its health benefits.
We were also thrilled that the Hillfarm spreadable butter scooped a 1-star Great Taste Award this year. These are considered the ‘Oscars’ of the food world so it is wonderful when our products receive recognition from the judges.
What are your favourite ways to eat The Butterworks’ spreadable butter with Hillfarm oil?
We love eating it on toasted hot crumpets so it’s oozing and delicious, or on freshly toasted sourdough bread as the flavours really complement each other. We also use it to cook at home, in casseroles, baking and dressings. It’s also great for sandwiches as it spreads straight from the fridge!
Where can people buy The Butterworks spreadable butter?
Our Hillfarm Spreadable Butter is available from Waitrose with an RRP of £2.00 (250g).