When searching for the best butter UK producers have to offer, discerning food lovers increasingly find themselves drawn to Cornwall – and with good reason.
At Trewithen Dairy, we’ve been quietly revolutionising what exceptional butter should taste like since 1994. Our approach is refreshingly simple: take the finest Cornish cream, churn it using time-honoured methods, and let Cornwall’s unique terroir do the talking.
The result? A luxuriously smooth, buttercup-yellow butter that transforms every dish into something genuinely special. While alternatives prioritise shelf life over soul, we believe the best butter comes from doing dairy the right way: naturally and with a respect for both tradition and the land that sustains us.
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What Makes the Best Butter in the UK?
The finest British butter begins with exceptional milk – sourced locally, handled with care, and transformed using methods that honour tradition and taste. Here at Trewithen Dairy, we know our dairy farmers by name and never compromise on the natural ingredients that make butter what it should be: pure, rich, and utterly delicious.
Pure Ingredients – Just Cream and Salt
The best salted butter in the UK contains exactly two ingredients: cream and salt. That’s it. While alternatives pad their ingredient lists with emulsifiers, stabilisers, and artificial flavourings, our Cornish butter stays true to tradition. We use only the richest Cornish cream and a touch of sea salt to enhance the natural sweetness.
Churning Methods Matter
There’s a reason butter has been made the same way for centuries – it works. Our churning process slowly transforms cream into butter, developing the complex flavours and luxuriously smooth texture that modern shortcuts simply can’t replicate. We take the time needed to create butter with character, depth, and that distinctive golden colour that only comes from doing things properly.
Local Farm Sourcing Within 25 Miles
Every drop of cream in our butter comes from family farms within a 25-mile radius of our Glynn Valley dairy. Our farmers share our Trew farming values, which focus on farming in harmony with nature and improving soil health, biodiversity, water cycles, and ecosystem resilience. This all means fresher cream and butter that truly captures the essence of Cornwall’s rolling pastures.
No Additives or Preservatives
Real butter doesn’t need artificial help to taste incredible or last longer. Unlike processed alternatives loaded with preservatives and stabilisers, our butter relies on traditional methods and proper handling to maintain its quality. The result is a product so pure and fresh that it’s been awarded a 2-star Great Taste award – proof that you’re getting the best butter UK has to offer, precisely as nature intended.
Health Benefits of Premium British Butter
Grass-Fed vs Grain-Fed Differences
Our Cornish dairy cows graze on lush, mineral-rich pastures year-round, producing milk rich in omega-3 fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and beta-carotene. This is why our butter has that distinctive golden colour and richer flavour. Grain-fed butter alternatives simply can’t match the benefits of grass-fed milk, producing paler butter with a flatter taste.
Natural Vitamins
Natural butter is a powerhouse of fat-soluble vitamins that your body needs. Our grass-fed Cornish butter is naturally rich in vitamins A, D, E, and K2 – essential nutrients that support everything from immune function to bone health.
Vitamin K2, particularly abundant in grass-fed dairy, helps direct calcium to your bones rather than your arteries. These aren’t added vitamins from a lab; they’re naturally occurring nutrients that develop when cows spend the majority of the year grazing on diverse, healthy pastures.
Why Additive-Free Matters for Your Family
Many commercial butters contain additives that serve the manufacturer’s needs, not yours. These chemicals can trigger sensitivities and mask the natural flavours that indicate quality. Pure butter with just cream and salt means you know exactly what you’re feeding your loved ones, with no hidden ingredients or unpronounceable chemicals.
The Truth About Saturated Fats
Modern nutrition science has moved beyond the outdated fear of saturated fats, recognising that quality matters more than quantity. The saturated fats in grass-fed butter provide steady energy, support hormone production, and help your body absorb those crucial fat-soluble vitamins. When sourced from healthy, grass-fed cows and consumed as part of a balanced diet, butter’s saturated fats play a beneficial role in overall health.
Taste Test – Why Cornish Butter Wins every time
Our award-winning butter has been recognised in the Great Taste Awards, the largest and most trusted food and drink awards on the planet. It achieved ‘outstanding’ in the judges’ blind taste tests (less than 10% of all 14,113 entries received this impressive rating!).
“This is a beautiful butter. There is a delicious clotted cream butteriness about it. Full on flavour of summer meadows and buttercups. The salt level is perfect.”
Great Taste Awards Judge
Rich, Creamy Texture You Can Taste
The moment you spread our Cornish butter, you’ll notice the difference. Our churning creates a luxuriously smooth texture that melts effortlessly on warm bread, yet holds its shape beautifully for baking.
The milk from our dairy cows naturally produces higher butterfat content, creating that indulgent mouthfeel that transforms simple toast into something special. You can literally taste the richness in every bite.
Natural Buttercup Yellow Colour
That distinctive golden hue is nature’s signature of quality. The rich yellow comes from beta-carotene, which naturally occurs in the fresh grass our cows graze on throughout Cornwall’s mild seasons.
Best Butter UK Brands Compared
What to Look for on Butter Labels
Reading butter labels reveals everything about quality and production methods. Look for minimal ingredient lists (ideally just cream and salt!) and avoid products listing emulsifiers, preservatives, or “natural flavouring.”
Most importantly, be wary of butters with unusually long shelf lives – the shorter lifespan of real butter is actually a quality indicator, not a flaw.
Price vs Quality – When It’s Worth Paying More
When you invest in proper Cornish butter, you’re investing in local farming, superior ingredients, and flavour that transforms your cooking.
Consider the cost per use rather than the absolute price – a little Cornish butter goes a long way in terms of flavour impact. For everyday cooking where butter is the star (fresh bread, simple sauces, baking), the upgrade is transformative, and quality pays dividends.
Regional Butter Producers Worth Trying
Britain’s diverse regions produce distinctively different butters worth exploring.
Beyond Cornwall, seek out Somerset’s traditional farmhouse butters with their rich, grassy notes, or Scottish Highland butters with their clean, fresh character. Welsh butter producers offer wonderfully creamy options to try, too.
The best approach is to treat regional butter like wine – sample different producers of butter in the UK to understand how landscape and climate create unique flavour profiles.
Where to Find the UK’s Finest Butter
Supporting Local British Dairy Farms
Choosing the best British butter means supporting a network of local farms that have been the backbone of our countryside for generations. When you buy from producers like Trewithen, you’re directly supporting over 35 local farming families who have chosen quality over quantity. These farmers face constant pressure from cheaper imports and factory farming, yet they persist in producing milk that creates genuinely superior butter.
Premium Retailers and Farm Shops
We have a range of our award-winning products in Tesco, Ocado, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Spar (Cornwall and parts of Devon). We are continually working to extend our range and availability across the UK and look forward to bringing our Cornish dairy products to a shop near you soon.
Cornwall’s farm shops naturally feature Trewithen products, but look for similar regional specialists nationwide – they understand local producers and can guide you toward the best seasonal options.
What Professional Chefs Choose
Professional bakers and chefs reveal the true test of butter quality – Cornish chefs choose products that consistently perform and enhance their dishes, rather than hiding behind them. When professional chefs whose livelihoods depend on exceptional ingredients choose our dairy products, it’s the strongest endorsement possible.
Conclusion: The Best Butter UK Shoppers love
At Trewithen Dairy, we’ve spent three decades proving that superior butter is about doing things properly from pasture to plate. When it comes to finding the best butter UK producers have to offer, the choice becomes clear once you understand what truly makes our Trewithen Dairy butter truly exceptional.
Our commitment to traditional methods and pure ingredients creates butter that doesn’t just taste better; it connects you to Cornwall’s rich dairy heritage and supports sustainable farming practices that benefit everyone.
In a world of shortcuts and compromises, choosing genuine Cornish butter like ours is an investment in quality, health, and the future of British dairy farming.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the highest quality butter in the UK?
The highest quality butter (Trewithen Dairy butter!) contains only cream and salt and is made from grass-fed milk.
Which butter is 100% grass-fed in the UK?
Trewithen Dairy butter is grass-fed, sourced exclusively from farms within a 25-mile radius of our dairy. Always check labels for specific grass-fed claims other butter producers may make.
Which UK butter is 100% butter?
Look for products listing only “cream” and “salt” in its ingredients. Trewithen Diary, Kerrygold, and most artisan producers offer 100% butter, while many supermarket brands contain additives and preservatives.
Is Lurpak real butter?
Yes, Lurpak is real butter, but it’s butter that often contains added cultures and has a different flavour profile than traditional British butter made with local cream.
Is expensive butter actually better than supermarket own-brand?
Generally yes – premium butter uses better cream and pure ingredients that create superior taste, texture, and nutritional content.
What makes butter healthy or unhealthy?
Grass-fed butter with no additives provides beneficial vitamins and natural fats. Processed butters with preservatives and butter alternatives with trans fats are less healthy. Quality and source matter more than quantity.
What’s the difference between salted and unsalted butter for cooking?
Unsalted butter gives you complete control over seasoning and is essential for baking precision. Salted butter works well for spreading and general cooking, but can overwhelm delicate dishes or throw off baking measurements.
What’s healthier, butter or margarine?
Natural butter from grass-fed cows is generally healthier than most margarines. Butter provides natural vitamins and has been nourishing families for centuries. Our delicious spreadable butter is made with the perfect mix of our original butter and sunflower oil to get the very best taste every time.
What’s the best butter for baking bread and pastries?
Trewithen Cornish unsalted butter has high butterfat content which works best for baking. The pure flavour and superior texture create flakier pastries and richer bread.
How do you store butter to maintain quality?
Keep premium butter wrapped in its original packaging or parchment paper in the refrigerator’s butter compartment. Avoid strong-smelling foods nearby, and only leave small portions at room temperature for immediate use to prevent rancidity.