Table of Contents
Scope and Themes
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- What you need to know
- Definition
- Data sources
- Sales data
- Consumer survey data
- Advertising creative
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
Executive Summary
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- Category snapshot: increase in price of butter drives sales
- Segment snapshot: butter and margarine trade places
- Factors driving price of butter
- Sales of private label butter grow
- Segment challenges: butter
- Segment challenges: margarine
- Interest in flavors is great
- Consumers have an appetite for natural
- Opportunity to capitalize on taste; room to improve spreadability
- Collectible margarine tubs
- Butter and margarine healthy in moderation, but unhealthy otherwise
Insights and Opportunities
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- Tactics you can use
- It’s all about natural
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- Figure 1: Comparisons between butter, margarine, and other spreads, by gender, April-May 2011
- A tasty opportunity: flavored products
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- Figure 2: Top 10 flavors of butter and margarine/spreads new product launches, 2005-June 2011
Inspire Insights
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- Trend: Free From
- Trend: Carnivore, Herbivore... Locavore
Market Size and Forecast
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- Key points
- Rising price of butter drives category growth
- Butter is basic
- Hooked on butter
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- Figure 3: Total U.S. sales of butter and margarine/spreads/blends at current prices, 2006-16
- Figure 4: Total U.S. sales of butter and margarine/spreads/blends at inflation-adjusted prices, 2006-16
- Fan chart forecast
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- Figure 5: FDMx sales and fan chart forecast of market, at current prices, 2005-15
- Walmart sales
Market Drivers
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- Key points
- The rising price of butter…
- … cuts consumption
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- Figure 6: U.S. FDMx sales of butter, by value, volume, and average price, 2006-June 2011
- Margarine more marginally affected by price increases
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- Figure 7: U.S. FDMx sales of margarine, by value, volume, and average price, 2006-June 2011
- Figure 8: Price for a metric ton of corn, 2006-June 2011
- More Americans are dieting
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- Figure 9: Percentage of Americans on a diet, 1986-2010
- Figure 10: Overweight and obesity rates, 1988-2008
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- Figure 11: Five most common methods of weight loss, 2010
- High cholesterol and aging population favor margarine over butter
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- Figure 12: Percentage of Americans with high cholesterol, 1988-2008
- Figure 13: Population, by age, 2006-16
- Examples of trans-fat-free margarine
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- Figure 14: Margarine without trans fat, launched 2010-11
Competitive Context
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- Cooking alternatives
- Olive oil allures
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- Figure 15: Types of fat/oil used most often for cooking and baking, April-May 2011
- Lard making a comeback
- Spreads
- Overview
- Jam, jellies, and fruit butters
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- Figure 16: FDMx sales and forecast of jams, jellies, preserves, and fruit butters, 2005-15
- Peanut butter
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- Figure 17: FDMx sales and forecast of peanut butter and other nut butters, 2005-15
Segment Performance
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- Key points
- Butter and margarine: trading places
- Consumers want natural products
- Sales of butter and margarine/spreads/blends, by segment
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- Figure 18: Total U.S. sales of butter and margarine/spreads/blends, by segment, 2009 and 2011
- Figure 19: Total U.S. sales of butter and margarine/spreads/blends, by segment type, 2006-11
- Lack of product innovation hurts margarine
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- Figure 20: Butter and margarine/spreads new product launches, 2005-June 2011
Segment Performance—Butter
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- Key points
- Sales grow, but not product volume
- Consumers trading down
- A taste for natural products
- Sales and forecast of butter
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- Figure 21: Total U.S. sales of butter, 2006-16
Segment Performance—Margarine/Spreads/Blends
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- Key points
- Margarine on the slide
- Private label makes little headway
- Sales and forecast of margarine/spreads/blends
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- Figure 22: Total U.S. sales of margarine/spreads/blends, 2006-16
Retail Channels
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- Key points
- Supermarkets, supercenters and warehouse clubs fry other retailers
- Sales of butter, margarine, and table spreads, by channel
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- Figure 23: U.S. retail sales of butter, margarine, and table spreads, by channel, 2009-11
Retail Channels—Supermarkets
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- Key points
- Buying butter and spreads at the supermarket
- Trading down to supermarket private label brands
- Supermarkets push private label
- Supermarket sales of butter, margarine, and table spreads
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- Figure 24: U.S. supermarket store sales of butter, margarine, and table spreads, at current prices, 2006-11
Retail Channels—Supercenters and Warehouse Clubs
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- Key points
- Sales in supercenters and warehouse clubs expected to rebound
- Supercenters and warehouse clubs sales of butter, margarine, and table spreads
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- Figure 25: U.S. supercenters and warehouse clubs sales of butter, margarine, and table spreads, at current prices, 2006-11
Retail Channels—Other Retailers
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- Key points
- Price trumps convenience, and hurts the channel
- Other retailers sales of butter, margarine, and table spreads
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- Figure 26: U.S. other retailers store sales of butter, margarine, and table spreads, at current prices, 2006-11
Retail Channels—Natural Supermarkets
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- Key points
- Insights
- Sales of butter and margarine in the natural channel
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- Figure 27: Natural supermarket sales of butter and margarine, at current prices, 2009-11
- Figure 28: Natural supermarket sales of butter and margarine, at inflation-adjusted prices, 2009-11
- Natural channel sales by segment
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- Figure 29: Natural supermarket sales of butter and margarine, by segment, 2009-11
- Natural channel sales by organic content
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- Figure 30: Natural supermarket sales of butter and margarine, by organic content, 2009-11
Leading Companies
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- Key points
- Land O’Lakes grows
- Unilever and Smart Balance struggle
- Manufacturer sales of butter, margarine, and table spreads
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- Figure 31: FDMx manufacturer sales of butter, margarine, and table spreads in the U.S., 2010-11
- Innovation slows… except for private label
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- Figure 32: New product launches, private label vs. branded, 2005-11
Brand Share—Butter
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- Key points
- Land O’Lakes brand drives growth
- A taste for private label
- Manufacturer and brand sales of butter
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- Figure 33: Selected FDMx brand sales and market share of butter in the U.S., 2010-11
Brand Share—Margarine and Table Spreads
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- Key points
- Unilever slips
- As do most brands in the segment
- Manufacturer and brand sales of margarine and table spreads
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- Figure 34: Selected FDMx brand sales and market share of margarine and table spreads in the U.S., 2010-11
Innovation and Innovators
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- Hormone-free butters
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- Figure 35: Hormone-free butters, launched 2010-11
- Healthier spreads
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- Figure 36: New spreads, launched 2010-11
- Flavored products
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- Figure 37: New flavored products, launched 2010-11
- Butter and margarine alternatives
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- Figure 38: Butter and margarine alternatives, launched 2010-11
Marketing Strategies
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- Overview of the brand landscape
- Brand analysis: Land O’Lakes
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- Figure 39: Brand analysis of Land O’Lakes, 2011
- Online initiatives
- Outdoor efforts
- Brand analysis: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter
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- Figure 40: Brand analysis of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, 2011
- TV presence
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- Figure 41: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, TV ad, 2010
- Online initiatives
- Brand analysis: Smart Balance
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- Figure 42: Brand analysis of Smart Balance, 2011
- TV presence
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- Figure 43: Smart Balance, TV ad, 2010
- Online initiatives
- Additional marketing efforts
- TV
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- Figure 44: BestLife, TV ad, 2010
- Print and other
- Online initiatives
Butter and Margarine Usage
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- Key points
- Usage of butter does not affect margarine
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- Figure 45: Household use of butter and margarine, October 2009-December 2010
- Usage of margarine declines
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- Figure 46: Household use of butter and margarine, trended, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2010
- Women use butter, margarine, and oils more than men
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- Figure 47: Past three-month usage of butter, margarine, oils, and other, by gender, April-May 2011
- 18-34s use spreadable and flavored butter
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- Figure 48: Past three-month usage of butter, margarine, oils, and other, by age, April-May 2011
- Using butter for baking
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- Figure 49: Types of fat/oil used most often for cooking and baking, April-May 2011
- Women use oil when cooking; men use butter
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- Figure 50: Types of fat/oil used most often when cooking or sautéing something on the stove, by gender, April-May 2011
- The young use butter; older respondents, margarine
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- Figure 51: Types of fat/oil used most often when cooking or sautéing something on the stove, by age, April-May 2011
Health Rating
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- Key points
- Olive oil is healthy, lard isn’t
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- Figure 52: Health rating, butter, margarine, oils, and fats, April-May 2011
- Women think olive oil and cooking spray are healthier
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- Figure 53: Health rating, butter, margarine, oils, and fats, by gender, April-May 2011
- Age brings more favorable opinions of products
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- Figure 54: Health rating, butter, margarine, oils, and fats, by age, April-May 2011
- Those with household incomes less than $75K have more favorable impressions
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- Figure 55: Health rating, butter, margarine, oils, and fats, by household income, April-May 2011
Consumption Comparison
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- Key points
- Butter and margarine consumption is down
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- Figure 56: Consumption of butter, margarine, and spreads to a year ago, April-May 2011
- Women using more olive oil and cooking spray
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- Figure 57: Consuming more butter, margarine, and spreads to a year ago, by gender, April-May 2011
- Young using more butter
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- Figure 58: Consuming more butter, margarine, and spreads to a year ago, by age, April-May 2011
Butter Attitudes and Purchase Habits
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- Key points
- Butter in moderation is healthy
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- Figure 59: Butter attitudes and purchase habits, by gender, April-May 2011
- 18-34s like flavored and gourmet butters
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- Figure 60: Butter attitudes and purchase habits, by age, April-May 2011
- Affluent are butter purists
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- Figure 61: Butter attitudes and purchase habits, by household income, April-May 2011
- Parents are price sensitive
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- Figure 62: Butter attitudes and purchase habits, by presence of children in household, April-May 2011
Margarine/Spreads Attitudes and Purchase Habits
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- Key points
- Women use margarine for price and convenience; men for cholesterol
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- Figure 63: Margarine/spreads attitudes and purchase habits, by gender, April-May 2011
- Older respondents want heart-healthy margarines
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- Figure 64: Margarine/spreads attitudes and purchase habits, by age, April-May 2011
- Parents collect margarine tubs
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- Figure 65: Margarine/spreads attitudes and purchase habits, by presence of children in the household, April-May 2011
- Northeasterners are margarine connoisseurs
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- Figure 66: Margarine/spreads attitudes and purchase habits, by region, April-May 2011
Product Comparisons
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- Key points
- Butter is best
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- Figure 67: Comparisons between butter, margarine, and other spreads, by gender, April-May 2011
- Young respondents have an open mind toward butter variants
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- Figure 68: Comparisons between butter, margarine, and other spreads, by age, April-May 2011
- The affluent are butter purists
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- Figure 69: Comparisons between butter, margarine, and other spreads, by household income, April-May 2011
Race and Hispanic Origin
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- Key points
- Asians purchase butter; blacks purchase margarine
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- Figure 70: Past three-month usage of butter, margarine, oils, and other, by race/Hispanic origin, April-May 2011
- Opinions about health of butter vary by ethnicity
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- Figure 71: Health rating, butter, margarine, oils, and fats, by race/Hispanic origin, April-May 2011
- Blacks interested in flavored butters
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- Figure 72: Butter attitudes and purchase habits, by race/Hispanic origin, April-May 2011
- Blacks like healthy margarine
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- Figure 73: Margarine/spreads attitudes and purchase habits, by race/Hispanic origin, April-May 2011
Cluster Analysis
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- Health Promoters
- Demographics
- Characteristics
- Opportunity
- Indiscriminate Users
- Demographics
- Characteristics
- Opportunity
- Fat Shunners
- Demographics
- Characteristics
- Opportunity
- Cluster characteristic tables
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- Figure 74: Butter, margarine, and spreads clusters, April-May 2011
- Figure 75: Past three-month usage of butter, margarine, oils, and other spreads, byclusters, April-May 2011
- Figure 76: Health rating of butter, margarine, oils and fats, by clusters, April-May 2011
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- Figure 77: Consumption of butter, margarine, and spreads usage in cooking or baking by butter, margarine, and to a year ago, by clusters, April-May 2011
- Figure 78: Comparisons between butter, margarine, and other spreads, by clusters, April-May 2011
- Cluster demographic tables
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- Figure 79: Butter, margarine, and spreads clusters by gender, April-May 2011
- Figure 80: Butter, margarine, and spreads clusters by age, April-May 2011
- Figure 81: Butter, margarine, and spreads clusters by household income, April-May 2011
- Figure 82: Butter, margarine, and spreads clusters by race/Hispanic origin, April-May 2011
- Cluster methodology
Custom Consumer Groups
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- Married and using sticks, olive oil, and cooking spray
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- Figure 83: Products used in past three months, by marital status and presence of children in household, May 2011
- Butter is popular with 18-34s
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- Figure 84: Usage of butter and margarine, by age and race/Hispanic origin, October 2009-December 2010
- Children make men receptive to health messages
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- Figure 85: Perceived nutritional value, by gender and presence of children in household, May 2011
SymphonyIRI Group Builders Panel Data
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- Refrigerated butter
- Consumer insights on key purchase measures
- Brand map
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- Figure 86: Brand map, selected brands of refrigerated butter buying rate by household penetration, 2010
- Brand leader characteristics
- Key purchase measures
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- Figure 87: Key purchase measures for the top brands of refrigerated butter, by household penetration, 2010
- Margarine, spreads, and butter blends
- Consumer insights on key purchase measures
- Brand map
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- Figure 88: Brand map, selected brands of margarine/spreads/butter blends buying rate by household penetration, 2010
- Brand leader characteristics
- Key purchase measures
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- Figure 89: Key purchase measures for the top brands of margarine/spreads/butter blends, by household penetration, 2010
Appendix: Other Useful Consumer Tables
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- 18-34s use butter when baking
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- Figure 90: Types of fat/oil used most often when baking, by age, April-May 2011
- $100K-149.9K more likely to buy stick butter and oil
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- Figure 91: Past three-month usage of butter, margarine, oils, and other, by household income, April-May 2011
- Freezing butter in the Northeast
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- Figure 92: Butter attitudes and purchase habits, by region, April-May 2011
- Less affluent buy less margarine due to price increases
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- Figure 93: Margarine/spreads attitudes and purchase habits, by household income, April-May 2011
- Northeasterners can tell the difference
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- Figure 94: Comparisons between butter, margarine, and other spreads, by region, April-May 2011
- Asians use butter more often
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- Figure 95: Types of fat/oil used most often when baking, by race/Hispanic origin, April-May 2011
- Asians using more olive oil, butter, and more
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- Figure 96: Consuming more butter, margarine, and spreads to a year ago, by race/Hispanic origin, April-May 2011
Appendix: SymphonyIRI Builders Panel Data Definitions
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- SymphonyIRI Consumer Network Metrics
Appendix: Trade Associations
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