Fonterra’s research and development centre, alongside its global ingredients business NZMP, has developed a new white butter product to meet growing demand from manufacturers in the Middle East market.
Middle Eastern food manufacturers have traditionally sourced butter from grain fed cows which produce dairy products with a pale colour. This can also be done through a process where the golden appearance can be reduced without impacting its quality.
Casey Thomas, Fonterra’s Dairy foods category director of NZMP, says, “While our yellow butter already sees great success in this market, we saw an opportunity to tap into this new area for customers to use in a variety of applications such as spreadable jar cheese, recombined cream cheese, and could soon be used in ice cream.”
NZMP general manager of Middle East and Africa Santiago Aon, adds, “This innovative approach is already seeing strong results. Our customers have had positive feedback about the white butter, it is performing to our expectation as a high quality ingredient for food businesses across the Middle East region.”
The product is now available in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Bahrain, Turkey and Pakistan. Future plans include launching the product in Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and South America.
Source: Dairy Industries International
