Supreme Award: 2024 Feliz Wholefoods Limited - Vutter 'Avo Spreadable'
After being named the 2024 Supreme Award winner and taking out the Chilled Award Vutter Avo Spreadable by Feliz Wholefoods really is a butter that is better.
Founders Aline Fonseca and Patrick Malloch are self-confessed, passionate vegan foodies. Their mission is to bring food back to basics by leaving out unnecessary additives, sourcing ingredients ethically and contributing to a cleaner and kinder future.
With a vision of providing consumers with clean, honest, kind and delicious plant-based alternatives, the new spread – dubbed ‘your sandwich’s best friend’ – was launched after an extensive 18-month development period.
Aline says working with only natural ingredients posed a challenge in ensuring the product’s texture, consistency and shelf-life were up to standard. Vutter Avo Spreadable contains pure cold-pressed avocado oil sourced from the Bay of Plenty, along with coconut oil. It has the same fat content as traditional butter but doesn’t contain any trans fats or ‘bad cholesterol’. It’s proven to be a huge success among consumers and, interestingly, not just with vegans and vegetarians.
Due to the popularity of the Vutter range, particularly Avo Spreadable, which exceeded expectations by being the range’s second-largest seller, the team had to upscale production to meet demand. This was achieved in-house after three years, by engineering and adapting machinery to suit product specifications and needs. During this process, the team were able to alter production to ensure their systems produced zero waste. Conquering this was a huge achievement for Feliz Wholefoods, as being sustainably conscious is part of their ethos as a company.
One of the most technically challenging factors to overcome with the product was the spreadability. Getting the consistency right was key and involved rigorous testing to balance taste while considering different oils and methods. Ultimately, they succeeded in creating a product that is non-hydrogenated and not over heated and is made without seed oils.
“It’s incredible and surreal – I’m pinching myself, winning such a significant award like this. How amazing to be recognised for something you love doing. This journey came about because we wouldn’t take no for answer; we believed it was possible to have delicious, sustainable and clean alternatives, not just for vegans and vegetarians, but for everyone, "Aline says.
Entry (extracts):
1. Product name
Vutter, artisan dairy-free butter
2. Product description
Vutter Avo is a non-hydrogenated, natural and allergen free spreadable dairy-free butter.
It's a clean and delicious buttery spread for sandwiches and toast. Has the same fat content as butter but none of the trans fats or 'bad cholesterol'.
It also has a higher smoke point than butter, making it a great substitute in cooking and baking.
Vutter Avo is made at low temperature with a blend of cold pressed avocado oil and coconut oil. It's proudly made with only natural and non GMO ingredients, no seed oils, no common allergens, no artificial additives such as preservatives, flavouring, colours, and no palm oil.
It's packed with good fats, and it has a clean and uniquely delicious buttery flavour. It's a better butter; better for you and for our planet.
Innovation:
3. Where did the idea for this product come from?
The inspiration for Vutter Avo Spreadable emerged from our commitment to providing high-quality, plant-based butter alternatives. After introducing our original Vutter range in late 2020, which included variants like Original, Hemp, and Slow-Roasted Garlic, we identified a need to enhance spreadability, especially when cold. This led us to develop a new version that upheld our principles of being non-hydrogenated, minimally processed, and better - free from seed oils. Avocado oil, sourced locally from New Zealand's Bay of Plenty, proved to be the ideal ingredient due to its richness in healthy fats and high smoke point, aligning perfectly with our health-conscious and ethical standards.
4. How did you determine the product’s orginality?
We developed a butter alternative that is delicious, minimally processed, and made with a high content of both avocado and coconut oil, with no artificial additives, allergens, or seed oils.
Avocado oil is a premium, nutritious, and sustainable ingredient, with global demand increasing rapidly.
2. In New Zealand, there were no butter alternatives available without seed oils.
3. Most butter substitutes contain unsustainable oils such as palm, soy, or corn and often include allergens like dairy or nuts. Additionally, many have artificial additives, including preservatives, colors, and flavors.
4. Competitor products labeled as containing "coconut" or "avocado" oils often use only a minimal percentage of these ingredients, whereas we ensured our formulation contained a high proportion of avocado oil.
5. Did your company incorporate new technologies or ingredients in the development of this product and if so, please describe them.
Yes, scaling up our production while maintaining our commitment to a clean-label product was a major challenge. Over three years, we engineered and adapted machinery in-house to meet our specific product needs, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and sustainability in our manufacturing process.
6. In your food technologist’s words (using science, technology and engineering explanations), what was the proudest moment in the product development process?
Scaling up production while achieving a good shelf life was a significant challenge, particularly as we were committed to producing Vutter at low temperatures and without artificial preservatives. Successfully overcoming this and maintaining product integrity was a major milestone.
7. Describe how environmental outcomes have been optimised across the life cycle of the product entered. Demonstrate your process with examples of initiatives.
We produce virtually no waste in our manufacturing process. Initially, when trialing production at the FoodBowl, we were told that 15-20% waste was "normal." We refused to accept this and instead adapted our machinery and processes to eliminate waste. Additionally, we designed a closed-loop water-cooling system that recycles the same water in the tank, significantly reducing water waste.
8. Describe how social outcomes have been optimised for the product entered. Demonstrate your process with examples of initiatives.
We have a strong commitment to reducing food waste and supporting our community:
• Short-dated products are sold at a discount online or at markets.
• Unsold products are donated to charities such as Food Not Bombs Tamaki Makaurau.
• Any Vutter tubs that pass their best-before dates (but remain safe to consume) are distributed among friends and family to minimise waste.
9. Outline the likely commercial sustainability of the product entered, without compromising the environmental and social objectives detailed above.
We have been trading for 3.5 years, and on the second half of last year we started breaking even. This year we managed to succeed in scaling up our production, and we can now produce 10 times more product in one day, than we could before. This means we have had huge cost savings in labor and time, as well as better power of negotiating ingredient prices due to higher volumes. Also, we can push harder to increase our distribution now, which we were quite 'shy' on the previous years due to production capacity.
Vutter Avo is a new product, it's already performing better than expected. The repeat purchases are coming back higher than the previous ones, in 80% of stores that are selling it. It's already our second biggest seller (after Vutter Original 265g) and we are hoping that Woolworths NZ will range this product as well in this current review (TBC).
We have presented our range to Woolworths in Australia in Feb 2024 after attending an expo in their Head Office (invited by Seedlab Australia). There is a big interest in Vutter from WW and other Aussie retailers, and we are currently working with NZTE and other logistics suppliers and funding to hopefully start exporting later this year or early 2025.
Excellence:
10. Briefly outline your product development process including team expertise involved.
The Vutter recipe was developed in-house by Aline, a formally trained chef. To ensure food safety, compliance, and scalability, we collaborated with food technologist Geoff Webster, an expert in margarine, fats, and oils. His expertise was instrumental in refining our production process, optimizing shelf life, and validating labeling claims.
11. Explain how your product is at the forefront of food science and technology, food safety or customer experience.
Vutter offers New Zealand a natural, clean-label butter alternative with the taste, texture, and usability of traditional butter—without cholesterol, trans fats, or the environmental impact of dairy. Unlike other plant-based spreads, it contains no seed oils, hydrogenation, or artificial additives, making it a superior choice for health-conscious consumers.
12. Demonstrate the product's success with sales and distribution information
Vutter has been stocked in Foodstuffs North and South Island supermarkets since mid-2021, with a recommended range in premium FSNI stores for two consecutive years. Also ranged in a number of Woolwoths NZ premium stores. Our sales continue to grow, and with increased production efficiency, we are now exploring pricing strategies to make Vutter even more accessible while maintaining profitability.
