New Vegan Butter Packaged in Paper—Not Plastic!

This article is kindly sponsored by our friends at Flora Plant Butter, makers of outrageously delicious vegan butter designed for people and the planet.

The latest vegan butter to make a splash across the United States is an exciting one. Not only is it delicious and available in both salted and unsalted varieties—it’s also packaged wrapped in paper instead of plastic which is a huge environmental win! Meet: Flora Plant Butter.

It’s vegan. It’s gluten-free. It’s non-GMO. Its sustainably sourced. It’s made with plant oils instead of animal-derived oils. And it’s made without any preservatives or artificial flavors.

Plastic-Free Packaging

Flora Plant Butter comes in 8.8 oz blocks and is securely wrapped in a parchment paper that is certified plastic-free. Finally! This is exciting because for decades the main vegan butter options on the market came packaged in thick plastic tubs.

With a worldwide shift toward reducing—or better yet eliminating—single use plastics, this is an especially exciting new option in the plant-based space. With so many vegans and non-vegans looking to cut down on plastic or even strive for zero waste living, it aligns beautifully with anyone who has a goal of living more sustainably.

How to Use Vegan Butter

Most vegan butters, including Flora Plant Butter, can be used in the exact same way as dairy-based butter in recipes. You can substitute plant butter for animal butter at a 1:1 ratio and it works in cooking, baking, whipping into frostings, spreading on bread or toast, dolloping atop waffles and pancakes, and beyond. 

Flora Plant Butter is solid and firm when refrigerated, soft and easily spreadable  at room temperature, and it can be melted into a liquid when heated. It can also be frozen to preserve its lifespan, and simply thawed in the refrigerator for 24 hours before using.

It’s perfect on:

• A slice of crispy hot toast
• A stack of vegan pancakes
• Spaghetti (and all types of pasta!)
• Sweet potato toast
• Buttercream frosting
• Potatoes (like these Hasselback potatoes)

…and so much more. 

Salted Vs. Unsalted Butter

Most generic butter comes salted—which is an all-purpose butter. Of course it can be useful to have both types (salted and unsalted) for different occasions, which is an option that’s quite new in the plant-based space. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that after 14 years as a vegan, cooking mostly with the same brand and type of vegan butter, I had no idea what to do with unsalted butter.

In case you’re in the same curious camp, let us share. Unsalted butter is useful when you’re making something that isn’t meant to have any salt, of course. But it’s also useful for recipes in which you’d like to precisely control the amount of salt. Unsalted butter is sometimes called for in baking recipes (even when salt is added later in the recipe) since baking is such a delicate art and you may need to control the exact amount of salt use.

I was surprised to learn that even frostings, which you don’t think of as being salty, often work best with salted all-purpose butter. 

What’s Flora Plant Butter Made From?

Like most vegan butter, Flora Plant Butter is made from a blend of vegetable oils. A mixture of sunflower oil, canola oil, and responsibly sourced palm oil make up these blocks of buttery goodness.

Palm oil? Yes, palm oil!

We get lots of questions about the ethics of palm oil, so let’s address that, especially since it’s an ingredient in many of the mainstream plant-based butters on the market.

There are a lot of issues with mainstream palm oil production. You’ve probably heard about palm oil production destroying habitats of orangutans and other wildlife. And yes, that is happening, and yes, it’s an enormous and awful problem. But keep in mind it’s not palm oil that’s the problem—it’s the methods of mass producing it. And not all palm oil is created equal. You can find sustainably sourced and responsibly produced palm oil, and that’s what Flora has done. 

Flora Plant sources their palm oil from suppliers who are committed to keeping habitats and biodiversity intact. They are also involved in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) so they can further drive change in producing palm oil. 

If you want to avoid palm oil completely, we have a recipe for homemade vegan butter you can try! Butter is surprisingly easy to whip up yourself in just a few minutes.

Where Can I Get Flora Plant Butter?

You can find vegan butter at most mainstream grocery stores—many of which carry a whole array of brands and varieties. Flora Plant Butter is new to the scene and currently available at Kroger, Weis, and HyVee grocery stores, with more availability coming soon! You can visit Flora’s “find us” page to see which stores carry it near you. 

How Can I Get My Store to Carry It?

Wish you could find this vegan butter at your local grocery store? Ask! You may be surprised to see how influential you can be as a customer. Find a manager to speak with, let them know how much you appreciate their store as a one-stop-shop for your groceries (some kind words will go a long way), and let them know you’d love to see them carry Flora Plant Butter. Or…ask about any of your favorite vegan products that aren’t yet available at that store!

Follow-up is key. Be sure to check in regularly and ask about the status of your request. There’s a good chance that before long, you’ll be able to toss your vegan favorites into your cart with the rest of your fruit, veggies, grains, legumes, and other groceries.

Flora also has a form you can submit so they can work on getting into your favorite grocery store!

Delicious Recipes You Can Make With This Butter:

• World’s Best Vegan Waffles
• Vegan Florentine Cookies
• Vegan Gravy

This article is kindly sponsored by Flora Plant Butter, makers of dairy-free butter that’s quickly becoming a favorite of families and chefs alike. Photos by Michelle Cehn, copyright of World of Vegan.