The US butter, margarine, and oils category is worth an estimated $8.1 billion in 2014, an increase of 1.5% over 2013 sales of $8 billion. Butter accounts for 29.9% share and $2.4 billion in 2014, an increase of 12.8% over 2012, while other edible fats declined 1.8% during this time to $5.7 billion and 70.1% share. Butter sales grew due to increased per capita consumption of butter, which is now 5.6 pounds, its highest point in 40 years, according to the USDA. Per capita margarine consumption is now 3.5 pounds, its lowest point since 1976. The shift is based on consumer preference for more natural, less processed foods. Additionally, consumers continue to use alternative types of cooking oils, such as olive oil, for their health attributes and flavor, at the expense of standard vegetable oils. Olive oil sales increased moderately between 2012 and 2014 while standard cooking oils sales stagnated. This report focuses on these factors, and provides analysis of the following:

• How preference for less processed foods is driving butter sales and what margarine/spread brands are doing to compete

• How olive oil and other alternative oils such as peanut and grapeseed oil can market their cholesterol-lowering attributes to compete with standard vegetable oil brands

• Why households with children help drive sales and what product attributes are important to this demographic

• How a proposed ban on trans-fat will impact the category

• Organic product innovations and how the natural channel is leading the trend toward more organic products

• Marketing strategies of leading butter, spread, and oil brands

This report also features examination of Mintel’s exclusive consumer survey, which covers types of products purchased, purchase frequency, ways of use, attitudes toward edible fats, and important purchase attributes.

This report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Butter, Margarine and Oils – US, August 2013, and the January 2011, March 2007, and June 2005 reports of the same title, as well as Home Baking – US, January 2012.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel has used the following definitions:

• Butter – the USDA requires products sold as butter to be made exclusively from milk, cream, or both, and contain not less than 80% by weight of milkfat; they may contain salt and/or additional coloring matter.

• Butter blends/spreads/margarine – butter blends are a blend of vegetable oil and milkfat, where the milkfat is derived to US specifications of grade A or AA butter, sold in the dairy aisle that can be used as an alternative to butter or margarine; table spreads sold in the dairy aisle that can be used as an alternative to butter or margarine; margarine is a blend of vegetable oil and milk fat with a minimum fat content of 80% the same as butter, but unlike butter, reduced-fat varieties of margarine can also be labeled as margarine.

• Cooking and salad oils -– plant and seed oils that are liquid at room temperature; may be composed of oil from a single type of plant and seed or a combination of plant and seed oils; excludes olive oils, which are a separate segment.

• Olive oil – oil derived from pressed olives; includes only olive oil used for eating or cooking.

• Pan spray – oils in a container that dispenses the product in a mist; used on cookware to prevent food from sticking or burning and to impart flavor to foods.

• Shortening – solid fat, usually made with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils; used in cooking and baking.

Source: USDA

Value figures throughout this report are at retail selling prices (rsp) excluding sales tax unless otherwise stated.

• Market Size, Segment Performance, and Forecast: Total retail sales based on Information Resources, Inc. InfoScan Reviews; US Census Bureau, Economic Census; Progressive Grocer’s Consumer Expenditures Study

• Retail Channels: Based on Information Resources, Inc. InfoScan Reviews; US Census Bureau, Economic Census; Progressive Grocer’s Consumer Expenditures Study; except supermarket and drugstore sales, which are based on Information Resources, Inc. InfoScan Reviews

• Leading Companies and Brand Share: based on MULO sales data from Information Resources, Inc. InfoScan Reviews. MULO is defined as Multi Outlet, representative of the following channels: total US Grocery, Mass, Total US Drug, Total Walmart, Dollar, Military, and Club. Note that the values shown in this section differ from the Market Size/Forecast and Segment Performance sections of this report. Companies and brands sales data encompasses only sales through MULO channels, while Market Size/Forecast and Segment Performance sales cover the entire retail market.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through GMI to explore consumer consumption of/attitudes and behaviors toward butter, margarine, and oils. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in April 2014 among a sample of 1,914 adults aged 18+ with access to the internet.

Mintel selects survey respondents by gender, age, household income, and region so that they are proportionally representative of the US adult population using the internet. Mintel also slightly over-samples, relative to the population, respondents that are Hispanic or black to ensure an adequate representation of these groups in our survey results and to allow for more precise parameter estimates from our reported findings. Please note that Mintel surveys are conducted online and in English only. Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in the survey results.

Mintel has also analyzed data from EMS (Experian Marketing Services), using the Simmons NCS (National Consumer Study) and the Simmons NHCS (National Hispanic Consumer Study).

The Experian Marketing Services, Simmons NCS/NHCS was carried out during November 2012-December 2013 and the results are based on the sample of 23,538 adults aged 18+, with results weighted to represent the US adult population.

While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.

The following abbreviations are used in this report:

Generations are discussed within this report, and they are defined as:

* also known as Generation Y or Echo Boomers

In order to provide an inflation-adjusted price value for markets, Mintel uses the CPI to deflate current prices. The CPI is defined as follows: