Upfield has added a new product to its Flora range of plant-based spreads — a vegan butter alternative. The product, known as Flora Plant Butter, produces half the carbon emissions of ordinary butter and is suitable for spreading, cooking, baking, and frying.
The butter alternative comes in 100% biodegradable paper packaging and is made with natural ingredients from plant oils. It will be available at all major UK supermarkets in salted and unsalted varieties.
Upfield claims that if 1,000 people switched to its plant butter for a year, 19,000kg of greenhouse gas emissions would be saved, the equivalent to driving a petrol car around the world twice. The butter is also freezable, reducing food waste.
“Flora Plant is our biggest innovation in years,” said Catherine Lloyd, Marketing Director at Upfield UK&I. “By making a small switch to Flora Plant, consumers can still enjoy a delicious taste and the performance of butter whilst doing their little bit to help the planet.”
Along with its plant butter, the company has also announced another eco-friendly innovation — it will be adding carbon labelling to its plant-based spreads by the end of 2021. The labels will appear on the company’s leading brands, such as Flora, Becel, ProActiv, and Rama. Quorn became the first major brand to introduce carbon labelling earlier this year.
The aim of the labelling is to increase consumer awareness of the carbon impact of the foods they buy. Research shows that when consumers are able to compare carbon footprints, they choose more environmentally friendly products.
“Today’s food labels already provide consumers with a lot of important information about ingredients, health benefits, allergens, storage, and use,” said Dr. Jeanette Fielding, Chief Corporate Affairs and Communications Officer at Upfield. “By adding carbon labels, consumers will also be able to understand the impact their food choices have on our climate.”
