UPDATE: (July 2022) Discontinued …. ?
Another excellent premium butter on offer at Trader Joe’s!
Trader Joe’s now carries three premium imported butters, a French butter, an Irish butter and just recently I saw this one, from New Zealand no less. New Zealand is pretty famous for its food products. I happen to love the New Zealand Extra Sharp cheddar cheese that TJ carries, it’s terrific and it’s even a Trader Joe’s team favorite. So I was happy to see this Kiwi butter. When I first opened the package I was struck by the deep yellow color (it may be hard for the actual color come through in my picture). Trader Joe’s says on the package that “it’s made for us on the South Island of New Zealand from grass fed cows”. I am imagining something like this picture from there?
Boy that’s nice scenery so perhaps those cows are very contented and making lovely (grass-fed) milk. When I tasted this butter I was impressed. It’s very gently salted, a bit less than TJ’s French butter. It has a lovely sweet aroma and tastes great. The color is beautiful, so yellow. It was delicious when I spread some on some warm bread. Wonderful when I put it on pancakes the next morning. Wonderful when I made an omelet with it. It was just great cooking with it. This is a truly premium butter and I was as impressed with this Kiwi butter as I am of all 3 imported premium butters TJ sells. Each one is excellent in it’s own right. I have tried tasting one then another to see which is “best” but each one is of such high quality, I can’t really put one over another. They are all excellent premium butters and and each makes you think “now this is what butter should taste like”.
If you were impressed by the French Cultured butter or the Kerrygold Irish butter TJ sells, you will be also impressed by the New Zealand butter, which might be the only one made from completely grass fed milk. Of course imported butter costs more than TJ’s regular butter, maybe double? This NZ one is a wee bit cheaper than the French and Irish butters. The NZ butter costs $3.29 for an 8 oz package. If I can save a little bit on an imported butter, that’s great, so this New Zealand butter will probably be on my shopping list from now on as my first pick of the “special butters”. I never used to buy imported butter, just too expensive. However thanks to Trader Joe’s decent prices for them I now regularly buy two kinds of butter for our fridge. One “normal everyday” butter plus one of the imported “Special butters for that premium butter taste where it really counts (like my morning toasted bagel). One final thing. I read somewhere that the New Zealand butter is the only one TJ sells where 100% of the milk is from “grass fed cows”.
RAVE
Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants) 
Jun 15, 2022 @ 10:44:28
They have discontinued the New Zealand butter! It was the best butter ever! So disappointed.
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Jun 15, 2022 @ 11:04:48
Where? Sure it’s not just out of stock? Discontinued? Did you confirm that with the TJ Manager/Captain? Will check my area and report. Pretty sure I saw it here (NYC)
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Jun 15, 2022 @ 11:24:08
I asked my store. It was discontinued. I asked if there was a reason…they said there wasn’t one. Very disappointed in TJ’s.
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Jun 15, 2022 @ 11:25:26
Oh, I’m on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
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Jun 24, 2022 @ 15:03:54
UPDATE: I bought it yesterday in NYC. There was a ton of it on the shelf. Certainly not discontinued here at least which makes me wonder if TJ’s drops items in some regions but not others?!
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Jun 24, 2022 @ 17:39:59
I’m jealous. Love NYC and the NZ butter.
Maybe ask if they plan on discontinuing there. Stock up if they are!
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Jul 03, 2022 @ 07:25:15
Discontinued in eastern NC. 😞
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Jul 03, 2022 @ 16:08:20
I wish you still carried the New Zealand Butter in Sarastoa! Delicious!
-Romalue
>
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Jul 07, 2022 @ 22:19:40
I have tried all the three. Cultured butter is one a class of its own. And french really remove a ton of water from the butter and is available between 82% and 99% butter fat.
NZ butter is usually around 82.9% butter fat, lightly cultured, yellow and lovely. It is indeed grass fed with the least amounts of human intrusion and cows wander around freely grazing on huge pastures. This butter on wholesale is about $2.2 a pound. The cheapest there is.
Ireland has lots of grass and their butter is good also.
I prefer the NZ butter. Both the uncultured for the North American market and the heavily cultured for the Middle Eastern market.
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Jul 09, 2022 @ 19:28:33
Unfortunately in the Sarastoa area, they no longer carry the NZ butter. I am so disappointed.
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Jul 14, 2022 @ 19:41:13
Here in Los Angeles the NZ butter is also apparently discontinued – HUGE mistake, HUGE…..by far the best butter ever and I know so many who love it, can’t believe there wasn’t enough interest..
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Jul 15, 2022 @ 17:38:36
Ditto! And the other day I didn’t see the French Cultured butter on the shelves nor even the sign for them. Just saw KerryGold. The did have the NZ butter; I bought 1/2 dozen; in the freezer….
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Jul 15, 2022 @ 17:24:33
In New Jersey and Philly area – I called – it is discontinued. Heart broken lol.
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Jul 15, 2022 @ 19:21:59
I can’t believe they discontinued the NZ butter! It was so delicious that whoever tasted it, commented on how good it was.
Huge mistake for TJ.
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Sep 23, 2022 @ 02:36:58
Dear Sirs
We are bread machine importer, our customers wish to buy butter and cream for making bread, pls let us know could you supply?
Paul Lin
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Sep 23, 2022 @ 12:45:50
Hi, that’s interesting but this is a blog about Trader Joe’s, not the company “Trader Joe’s”
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