It seems that butter producers picked their numbers wisely. The cooking staple and flavor booster continues to show positive growth, with dollar sales of butter/butter blends up 1.3% (to $3,131.4 million) and unit sales jumping 2.5% (to 840.6 million) during the 52-week period ending Aug. 11, 2019, according to data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI.
And it’s not just luck of the draw: Butter is benefitting from consumer perception that eating products with higher fat content is a good bet, said Joe Baird, CEO, Rumiano Cheese Co., Willows, Calif. This is in part due to the popularity of diets such as the ketogenic, which encourages followers to eat high-fat, low-carbohydrate foods.