This Brand Makes 'Clean and Healthy' Butter For You

Co-founded by Ankita Maniktala Kukreja and Sahil Kukreja in 2016, The Butternut Co. is the first company to introduce almond butter to the retail shelf in India.

Since its inception, The Butternut Co. has created a variety of nut butter that has become a grocery staple for many. The food brand, recently, introduced three new delectable products in its range of nut butter and mixes – the Flaxseed Almond Butter, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Honey Peanut Butter. The Butternut Co. products vary from vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free to unsweetened and keto-friendly.

In an interview with Restaurant India, Co-founder of The Butternut Co., Ankita Kukreja speaks about the brand’s concept behind 100% nut butter.

The Butternut Co. as a clean label company

We use few and known ingredients - and no artificial colours or flavours. The Butternut Co. products are made without any preservatives, hydrogenated oils or added refined sugar. The food brand aims to keep its products as close to their natural state and prefer to use minimal ingredients during processing. We follow a clean label philosophy which means we do not add any artificial colours, flavours or unnecessary additives to its products.

Key challenges

Nuts are under-rated ingredients. They are superfoods which add protein, heart-healthy fats, vitamins and minerals to the diet. Everyone needs a spoonful as part of their day. As a young company, it was hard to convince retailers to believe in our product; nut butter itself was not very popular at the time. Another challenge was to get people to understand that there is no actual ‘butter’ in nut butter.

The concept behind 100% nut butter

Once we found the cleanest nut butter i.e. one-ingredient only - we took a shot at finding the healthiest consumers who would want it. And the 100% nut butter was born. The 100% nut butter is made using only one ingredient - almonds, peanuts or cashews.

The demand for almond butter is more at?

Currently, it is more of a household/grocery product. 

You have a range of nut butter. How do you see the retail market in India with your products?

The retail market in India is one of the fastest growing in the world. There is tremendous scope for new products to enter the market. We can see a marked difference from the time we started until today in terms of consumer acceptability towards new products.  Right now we’re focusing on our core competency - nuts and clean and healthy food. We aim at doing a lot within this space. 

How healthy is almond butter?

Almond butter is loaded with health benefits. Here are a few of them:

- It contains heart-healthy fats.

- It is a great source of protein, especially for those who are vegetarian as it contains plant-based protein.

- It is a good source of essential vitamins and minerals. 

- Natural almond butter does not contain added sugar or any other unnecessary ingredient and is, therefore, a very healthy and nutritious snack.

- Just a spoonful can keep you full for hours, therefore, reducing cravings.

- Almond butter is a good source of fibre since nuts are abundant in fibre.

Eight ways to use almond butter

Almond butter or nut butter, in general, is one of the most versatile foods. Here’s how you can use them: 

1. Add to a bowl of oatmeal 

2. Add in a smoothie 

3. Eat as a snack with fruits e.g. apple or banana 

4. Use to make a healthy and flavourful salad dressing 

5. Cook with it - there are hundreds of gravies and sauces that can be made with nut butter

6. Bake with it - nut butter cakes and cookies are delicious 

7. Eat as a pre or post workout snack - it provides protein, healthy fat and tastes delicious

8. This one’s my favourite: eat a spoon by itself from the jar. Can satisfy a sweet craving or makes a good snack 

The Range of Butternut Co. Products

Apart from custom blended flavoured nut butter, our product line includes 100% and organic nut butter as well. We understand that individual dietary needs are varied. So, we eliminated the refined sugars and oils completely. What you get is pure unadulterated goodness! Our product line also includes vegan, gluten-free and unsweetened products. The peanut butter comes in three different variants: Creamy (Rs. 160), Crunchy (Rs. 160) and one with pure Organic Honey (Rs. 190). We also have the Chocolate Peanut Butter, a perfect alternative to sugary choco spreads. The Chocolate Peanut Butter is dairy-free and refined sugar-free; a 200 gm jar is available at Rs. 160. Kids love this nut butter especially. As it is a healthy chocolate spread and would make a perfect gift for mothers, too.