New Land O'Lakes flavored butter product helps home cooks step it up a notch

Seasoned butter and olive oil are used to flavor chicken, fish and pork. The flavors are Garlic & Herb, Italian Herb, Savory Butter & Olive Oil and Lemon Pepper.

Dairy cooperative Land O'Lakes, Arden Hills, Minn., has developed a new butter-based cooking ingredient called Saute Express Saute Starter. Made with seasoned butter and olive oil, the ingredient is used to flavor chicken, fish and pork. The flavors are Garlic & Herb, Italian Herb, Savory Butter & Olive Oil and Lemon Pepper.

A single-flavor package of six 1-ounce squares has a suggested retail price of $3.79. Each square cooks two chicken breasts, two pork chops or two fish fillets and combines the fresh flavors of butter, olive oil, herbs and spices.

Although the food has been available in supermarkets since Oct. 1, Land O'Lakes said it has planned an integrated marketing campaign in January that includes national advertising, public relations, consumer promotions and digital.

In a statement, Land O'Lakes said three key trends support the development of this new butter-based product:

Butter usage is on the rise. Euromonitor has projected that butter will grow volume sales by 10% from 2011 to 2016.
Busy moms want convenience, nutrition and flavor in dinner preparation. Land O'Lakes consumer testing revealed that moms want to easily create a meal without a complex recipe, while serving a wholesome meal every night that their kids will enjoy.
People are eating more at home. According to a 2012 food trends cooking report from the Center for Marketing Intelligence, families are eating more meals at home now than in previous years (72 percent in 2010 compared to 52 percent in 2003).