SPECIAL SECTION : KIRKLAND SIGNATURE
HOBONSKI / STOCK . ADOBE . COM
GOLD standard
BY JEN MADERA
Inside the creation of a better kind of butter .
W
ho knew that butter could be good for you ? It turns out that cows that graze on grass produce milk that ’ s packed with health benefits . Then , it takes a skilled manufacturer to turn – or churn – that milk into a high-quality , flavourful butter . That ’ s what Costco buyer Mark Klauber and his team were searching for when they collaborated with Westland Milk Products in Hokitika , New Zealand , to create Kirkland Signature Grass-Fed Butter , which was recently launched in Australia .
According to Hamish Yates , general manager of sales and marketing at Westland Milk Products , when eaten in moderation , Kirkland Signature Grass- Fed Butter provides a number of benefits for your diet . “ It offers a natural source of vitamin A and boasts high levels of conjugated linoleic acid , which assists in regulating the immune system and maintaining cardiovascular health . These high levels of omega-3 fatty acids also offer anti-inflammatory benefits ,” says Yates . “ We were aiming for high-quality , grass-fed butter with a great taste at an affordable price and that ’ s what we ’ ve come up with ,” Klauber adds . Here ’ s a look at how the product is made .
The grass is greener
Globally , there are no regulations for the percentage of grass that must make up a cow ’ s diet in order to label a dairy product as grass-fed . Costco and Westland Milk Products , however , set an extremely high standard .
According to Yates , the cows that supply the milk for Kirkland Signature Grass-Fed Butter feed on at least 95 percent grass , with a rigorous process to ensure the accuracy of this number .
“ Each one of our supplying farms is audited annually to calculate the amount of grass-fed forage consumed by their herds . This takes into consideration all of the supplementary feed brought onto any farm , the land area of the farm ’ s own grazing pastures , herd numbers , herd breed types and a number of other factors to determine the percentage of grassbased feed consumed ,” says Yates . The remaining five percent of supplementary grain feed the cows consume on these farms does not contain genetically modified organisms ( GMOs ) – that ’ s because GMOs and growth hormones are banned in New Zealand dairy farming .
From farm to fridge
Approximately 400 local farms supply the fresh milk used to create Kirkland Signature Grass-Fed Butter . “ The farms are beautiful and you can see the herds are healthy and have plenty of space ,” Klauber says .
The milk is collected from the farms daily – except in winter , when the cows are rested before the calving season . It is then brought to the Westland Milk Products factory , located on New Zealand ’ s South Island . Here , the milk is pasteurised , the milk and cream are separated – or skimmed – and the cream is chilled and churned using the Fritz churn method , a traditional European method of buttermaking dating back to 1893 .
Yates says that during the churning process , the fat content of the cream doubles , as the liquid buttermilk separates and drains away . This process ensures
28 | MAR / APR 2025 COSTCO CONNECTION