Wow! thats too bad. Sneaky guys. Im glad you will get some use out of the stuff.

I'd be peeved, too. At least you can find another use for the Brazilian butter.

I've gotten bad butter before -- a couple times, actually. Enough times from Land-O-Lakes that I'm hesitant to buy the brand anymore. Crumbly texture. I think it has something to do with temperature fluctuations. Mentioning in case you got a bum tub -- not because it's from Brazil but because it wasn't transported or stored properly.

But, it's the deceptive marketing that would tick me off more than anything -- if it's a product of France, than it should be imported from France, not another county.

Yes, butter can become crumbly when frozen. That wouldn't make it taste weird. I think butter flavor comes from what the cows eat, mostly. People talk about terroir in silly things like yeast (to my best guess, that's really from the water the yeast is in), but it seems a natural for butter, where she who produces the cream eats the terroir.

I totally get the butter for when butter is the point. I have butter which gets served at the table (I call it "table butter), and several butters for cooking/baking (salt/no salt, cow/goat, American style/Euro style (i.e., water content)).

amylou - I was surprised to read that your President butter was made in Brazil so i googled it - this was an AI answer:

......................Your President butter has "Product of Brazil" on it
because the butter you purchased was manufactured and packaged in Brazil.

While Président is a French dairy brand, owned by the Lactalis Group, the company produces its products in various locations around the world for different markets. The specific product you have was made in Brazil, likely for the North American market, as evidenced by multiple grocery store listings (including Walmart and Publix in the US) that state "Product of Brazil" for certain President butter items.

The French heritage of the brand is highlighted in its marketing, but the physical location of manufacturing can vary depending on where the product is sold.....................

I can easily see why the Brazilian butter could be different. I buy Kerrygold butter from Ireland because the cows are grass-fed and hormone -free with a high butterfat content. The label states

"graded, produced and packaged in Ireland."

President is a very middle of the road brand in France. It's not a premium product.

I happen to prefer Kerrygold Irish butter. It, and I suspect President from France, have a creamier, richer taste than American butter because of the higher fat content. But Kerrygold more so than President. There are better French butter brands and when I feel like having one of those, they're better than Kerrygold.

The cows that supply milk for Kerrygold are not exclusively grass-fed and they've been sued over their labeling. Under Irish and, more significantly EU rules, because the cows are fed predominantly grass and grass derived feed, the description can be used. Under US rules, because the cows are not fed exclusively grass, the label is misleading and impermissible. Apparently, the matter hasn't been resolved.

From Kerrygold's website:

" Throughout the year, to ensure optimum health of the animals, a typical Irish dairy cow’s grass-based diet also includes a very small amount of supplementary feed. This is used to give the cows a healthy and balanced blend of nutrients, providing them with protein, energy, fibre and micronutrients. "

The supplemental feed is, as I understand it, grains. Like corn.

Well to be fair, I buy it because I like how it tastes more than any other brand I have tried, not because of how the French rate it amongst themselves. That is how I choose all the things I buy, to suit my own or my SOs preferences, in all things, not just food.

I like Kerrygold ok, but I prefer President.

Of course.

I wasn't describing ratings, I was sharing President's market position. Not the cheapest, not the most expensive. Not the most flavorful, not the least. Very much middle of the road. It doesn't pretend in its own advertising to be otherwise.

Personally, I prefer Kerrygold. I think it has more flavor. We can each get what we like better without agreeing which that is.

I understand why you felt peeved.

Remember that Président, (Lactalis) is an enormous industrial company.

So as for industrial butter, here, it IS highly rated and relatively expensive.

For really good butter, then I'd buy small, locally produced.

I found this from Quora " Don’t assume Président in U.S. supermarkets is French—inspect the label. French-origin Président exists but is typically sold through specialty channels; everyday U.S. inventory is generally produced locally or in North America. "

Isn’t imported French butter tariffed now?

We (Americans) are making it more expensive to have nice things. Or any things.

I actually prefer Land O Lakes butter to anything else, except when I have to cook dairy free for my oldest grandson.

Yes john you are right, the grass is always greener on the other side.

Well, the grass is certainly greener in Ireland, though I'm satisfied with California butters. ;)

FWIW, I buy organic salted butter - mainly @ Aldi these days - and put away extra in the freezer. It's never become 'crumbly' in all these years - tastes very good to me too.

I do wrap the packages in foil before freezing to keep out that freezer taste.

Perhaps try organic butter?

I bought both my usual Kerrygold and some Kirkland butter on my last visit to Costco. I see no difference in the listed contents -- butterfat, etc. -- but I haven't tasted the Kirkland yet. Maybe Kerrygold cows are more 'contented'? (Remember Carnation's claims?)

Back to butter, please. Or, more accurately, back to deceptive package marketing.

(Amy, its lovely to read a post from you again; you write a good story. :) )

"porkchop, I don't find it deceptive. Practices and standards vary from place to place."

We are in the U.S. If the package does indeed say Product of France and it's a product of Brazil, that is deceptive marketing; actually, my understanding is that is fraudulent in the U.S.

I do wonder how Kerrygold can produce enough butter to fill the vast American market for premium butter.

We normally buy Kirkland from Costco but bought some Kerrygold because it was on special. When I could not tell any difference I did a blind taste test and could not distinguish between the two. My husband could not either but his is not as good a taster as I am. Both were good butter. I often make homemade butter and you certainly are not going to get as hard and dry a butter that way. I have watched videos of the kneading process used to make some European butters. You could do it at home if you had the patience.

patriciae

Annie1992, Earth Balance is a very good non dairy "butter". I use it when cooking for my oldest grandson. He is a 5 out of 5 allergic to any kind of dairy.

Annie, heart stent! hugs

" We are in the U.S. If the package does indeed say Product of France and it's a product of Brazil, that is deceptive marketing; "

Imported from France and Product of Brazil say two different things. They're not synonyms that are contradictory.

I buy a fish product. Sometimes it says "Product of Norway" and "Processed and Imported from the Netherlands". More recently, it said "Product of Lithuania" and "Processed in Poland".

These aren't deceptive, nor is the labelling on this butter. It's information and the more information, the better.

Do you suppose the differently colored lid was trying to signal that the product is different than the one you have bought in the past? Packaging changes do make me look for actual product changes.

I'm thinking of the way olive oil is marketed. Many brands say Imported from Italy, but the label also lists half a dozen other nations as sources for the oil that's IN the bottle. A few say the oil is entirely Italian. Even the "California Olive Oil" that I like has different varieties with only one saying 100% Californian olive oil. Sneaky, sneaky.

^^ Yes, I agree. I'm not fussy about olive oil other than I want it in a glass bottle not plastic, so I don't pay much attention to the details on the label. But if one does care about where the product/product ingredients are from, gotta read the labels and sometimes the teeny-tiny print on the label.

I can't say whether I like high % butters better or not, I don't buy them often because they're too expensive unless they're on super-sale, and I use butter for cooking. I don't butter bread (I like it plain, TYVM), so if I use butter on anything it's hot vegetables or grains and I don't know if a higher % would taste better or not. Although, I do have 2# of Challenge butter in the fridge, that was on super-sale and I believe it's 83% fat so I'll have to pay more attention to see if I can tell a difference.

Although, that's not the point of the post. OP didn't get what she thought she was buying, and always has bought, and is not happy about it. I wouldn't be, either.

Recently there eas a large photo magazine article on butters. I’ll try to locate it.

I like Kerrygold and Love French style cultured butter.

Chef Jean Pierre shows how you can make cultured butter on a YouTube video.

American butter is made with pasteurized cream, so it is not as flavorful as cultured.

You can purchase culture butter in the US, even at some grocery markets.

We don’t consume much butter, so permit ourselves to spend a bit more when we do. A treat.

Huh. I was bemused about the olive oil, so checked. The general purpose Italian EVOO I've used is made in Italy from Italian olives. The Spanish and California ones are all estate grown and bottled, and have distinct flavors.

I can taste the difference between butters, but not all butter. Some are distinctly grassier or more floral, for instance. There is also a flavor difference, as well as mouth feel, with different hydration and fat levels. IME, the discount butter which is about 80% butterfat tends to also have less general flavor, but that makes sense if it's going to the discount level because they'll just use whatever cream, I'm sure. The California organic stick butter I use for baking and cooking, is listed at 82% butterfat and has a pleasant, slightly grassy flavor. My California table butter, a Euro shaped, small block, is also 82% butterfat but is cultured and a little floral tasting. I do have 85-86% butterfat California butter for laminated baking, but I haven't eaten enough of it straight to say what it tastes like from memory.

I guess the difference is really whether you're buying from farms or farm cooperatives, or if you're buying from agribusiness. It's like with the wine. You can buy estate bottled, individual wines with distinctive flavors (for good or bad), or Two Buck Chuck and the ilk, made from great tanker trucks full of anonywine/grape, the great wine lake, which are assembled by able vintners to be palatable, even pleasant, but nothing in particular.

Fair point, and I did say for good or bad about the estate bottled wine, but the big producers in general don't have milk from pastured cows, and the butter has no particular flavor (which is why it all tastes the same, as do generic wine products).

Trader Joes has a good cultured butter. I usually buy Organic Valley that I like, too. I don’t care for Horizon Organic products, butter ir otherwise. I tried Kerrygold a few times and don.t get the hype. i really don’t care for it. To me it has a testure like butter flavored Crisco It doesn’t melt on your tongue like the butters I prefer.

There's a small, family cheese producer in Marin County that has been trendy, politically correct and topical in so many categories for some years.

The name is something like Point Reyes Cheese Company. I don't know if all the cheese is made from the dairy operation the family owns ( or once did) or not, likely not. They paint the picture of contented cows living with the freshest of sea air on windswept and foggy pastures by the ocean (north of the Golden Gate Bridge).

I'm not a cheese expert but I've never had one of its cheeses I find notable. They tout their blue cheese. It's expensive but very so-so to me.

So - a family owned business, majority owned by sisters, environmentally responsible practices, fresh outdoor quarters for dairy cattle, and overpriced and mediocre cheese.

Go to Whole Foods and find another producer of blue cheese. It'll likely be better and cheaper. Perhaps something Trader Joes sells may be too, I haven't looked.

I love President's Feta cheese. I buy it in the Deli. I've never seen President's brand butter. Where is it in the store?

NIcole I have only been able to find it in Publix. Its with the rest of the butter! (Just make sure you check the label to make sure its produced in France)

I love Point Reyes blue. It is more subtle and creamier than Maytag and similar, which I find overpowering to the point of avoiding them. Just depends on your taste.

The answer about the milk is right on their website: Our flagship Original Blue continues to be handcrafted on the farm in Point Reyes, made exclusively from the raw milk of our own Holsteins. In 2018, to meet growing demand for our award-winning cheeses, we opened a second production facility in nearby Petaluma. There we craft our pasteurized varieties— Bay Blue, Fennel Blue, Toma, TomaTruffle, TomaRashi, TomaProvence, Gouda, Quinta, and Truffle Brie—using milk from our farm as well as California dairies who share our commitment to sustainable farming and exceptional quality.

I also really like the Toma cheeses, but haven't tried the others.

I didn't know about the trendy stuff. Just bought their wares. I like their commitment to local and sustainable. Thanks for pointing it out.

I didn't say bland! The Point Reyes blue tastes like regular blue cheese, in terms of actual flavor, and does have a degree of tang and pungency, as you put it, but it doesn't hit one in the face and taste like a moldy shoe. I love a lot of funky cheeses but those heavy duty blue cheeses blow out my palate in quantity, and I end up picking the pieces out of a salad or other dish where there are fishoutable pieces. If you enjoy them, great, but different people experience things differently. No need to argue about it. I like what I like and you like what you like. There's room in the world for everybody. And if plenty of other people didn't like the PR blue, they'd stop making it.

I also like Pt Reyes blue and their Toma. They produce several kinds of blue and my food coop sells it, but I’m unsure which variety. I’ve never met a blue I didn’t like! when I can find it (also sometimes at the coop) I love Rogue Blue from Oregon. A few years ago it won some very prestigious international cheese award. If I recall correctly, it was the first time an American cheese has ever won. I believe companies can produce top rate products and also have a social and environmental conscience. One thing does not have to suffer because of the other.

I'm so sorry you're so upset by my word choice. I did say "more subtle" not that it is subtle. I apologise for confusing you and setting you off. I should have said "less perception shatteringly aggressive" to express myself fully, but I thought it would be more polite to tone it down. Things on message boards are so easily misunderstood and trigger readers into extreme responses. There are no absolutes in flavor perception. There are genetic differences, some of which have been quantified. Some are differences in the actual tastebuds and/or nasal sensors, others are specific genes that detect certain plant substances which are present in poisonous plants, but also in some of their nutritious, non-poisonous cousins, there's the enzyme (IIRC what it is) which makes cilantro either yummy or icky/soapy, etc. And there's just plain old preference. My too strong to eat more than a crumb at a time of is your full flavored delight. That's okay. There's good things to eat for both of us. No need to tie yourself in knots over it.

I’m one of those people who like some blue cheese notes, but recoil at a blast of napalm blue cheese. (I like cilantro — with lime, with SE Asian or Mex food.)

My mom used to stuff celery hearts with a mix of blue cheese and something like that Kraft creamy cheese in a small jar. It was often on our Thanksgiving relish tray. I still like it (and the black olives, green olives, cauliflower and carrot sticks).

But the Point Reyes blue is in my price range, I've been eating it with pleasure for years, and had no inkling of any hype until you brought it up. It's excellent crumbled into a salad, lovely baked into shortbread, and suits any use I may have for cheese in the blue family. I've never cared much for jack cheese, unless it's flavored (e.g., pepper jack), Why should I give up a cheese that I enjoy a great deal for one I don't, just because you have a different opinion?

Pt Reyes hardly produces inferior or mediocre products. In my curiosity for info about the award I mentioned about Rogue River blue, I found this.
"Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. achieved significant recognition this week at the prestigious World Cheese Awards held this year in Viseu, Portugal. The annual global cheese competition, organized in collaboration with the Guild of Fine Food, brought together 240 expert judges from 40 countries to evaluate over 4,000 cheeses from around the world." source (2024) One of the awards was for one of their blues. This is the same competition where the Rogue blue won - the first time for an American cheese.

Rogue River:
"Cheese lovers around the world eagerly anticipate the autumnal return of Rogue River Blue, which is released every year on the Equinox. Rogue River Blue is the Southern Oregon artisan cheesemaker's seasonal specialty, with flavors reflecting the locale. The organic blue cheese is the first and only USA-made cheese to be crowned World Champion at the World Cheese Awards, receiving this top honor in cheesemaking at the 2019-2020 ceremony held in Bergamo, Italy,"

ENOUGH!

I don't recall what I said in a Tillamook thread, but the professionals around the world who judge cheese declare their cheddar as the best in the world, so there is that: World Cheese awards - Food and Wine article.

High industrial scale mass production and a reputation for popularly price mediocre cheese. Just as every parent's child is an intellectual prodigy, every food product can win awards.

Tillamook's cheese isn't even the best in Oregon.

Elmer|

'Not Hardly'? A double negative. I said that once and my father corrected me. I never said it again!

Amy, I wondered if this was you! Yay! @sjerin thanks for confirming.

Also came here to say: while I like some butters better than others, I never met a butter I didn't like.

I live in Marin county where Point Reyes Cheese is located. They have three blue cheeses among their many offerings. I prefer the original blue, but love their cheeses AND the farm. They also have cheese tastings, farm brunches and dinners. You're lucky if you can snag a ticket for brunch or dinner! Point Reyes is just a gorgeous area.

" I said that once and my father corrected me. I never said it again! "

I'm sure he was a fine person but, in this instance, he was wrong.

"Not hardly" is a perfectly acceptable phrase for informal/colloquial writing or speech. And has been for a long time.

Remember that not everything parents say is correct, not all of their advice is good advice. Be nostalgic about the incident but don't carve it into stone.