Butter, Boldness, and British Farming
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur United Kingdom, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
All Things Butter - with its Instagram-rooted origins, chef-crafted recipes, and striking packaging - was born not just out of passion, but from a pointed dissatisfaction with the supermarket shelves. "Our initial inspiration for the business was born from the lack of innovation we were seeing on supermarket shelves and in the dairy industry," Hopkinson explains. "We wanted to launch a brand that appealed more to a modern consumer versus everything else that was currently in the market."
That discontent turned into disruption. The duo wasn't content with simply offering unsalted and salted varieties; they dove headfirst into flavour. "Within the mass market, we were one of the only brands to innovate and experiment with different flavoured butters when we first launched," he says. "Now we see that other brands are starting to jump on board - for example, Tesco has just launched their own flavoured butter range."
But while competitors are catching up, All Things Butter keeps charging ahead. "Last year we released our first sweet butter - the delicious Cinnamon Bun flavour - which was the first sweet-flavoured butter on the market and then launched the category's first chocolate butter." Their innovations aren't limited to flavour. Hopkinson is acutely aware of the industry they're operating in - one with systemic challenges, especially for those at the start of the supply chain. "We also saw the opportunity to shake up the dairy industry - not only to bring innovative flavours to consumers but to support British farmers," he says.
"All Things Butter donates 1% of its revenue to RABI to support the farming sector with financial, emotional and practical help." It's a point of pride that goes beyond optics. "Farming is one of the toughest professions, and it is a particularly tough time in history for the industry... All Things Butter wants to form deeper relationships with the community and support the incredible industry at a time when they truly need it."
That commitment didn't come easily. Finding a farming partner willing to back the vision of two Londoners with a dream of a butter brand was, at times, a humbling process. "There are quite a few funny stories about when Thomas and I were trying to sell the dream of two chaps from London wanting to sell our butter business to multi-generational farms... we got laughed out of the majority of those rooms."
Fortunately, Brue Valley, one of the oldest dairy farms in Britain, saw past the branding and city polish. "They truly believed in what we were trying to do and saw that we really wanted to add value to a category that has essentially lacked innovation for many years." Hopkinson is honest about their early missteps. "I think the lesson we learned from this was perhaps we were a bit too bullish in our approach to the farmers… I've learnt that we needed to be a bit more adaptable rather than coming in with a quite modern approach from the get-go."
More recently, All Things Butter - like the entire dairy industry - faced a new kind of test. "Another more recent challenge... was the commodity price of cream skyrocketed due to a shortage of milk from cows," he says. Thanks to Brue Valley, "we were well-placed to deal with this challenge and continue to provide our customers with organic, British butter." But it has taken creative problem-solving and operational adjustments to navigate the crisis. "We had to come up with innovative ways to maximise efficiency within the supply chain and mitigate that risk."
The broader economic landscape is also shaping their strategy. "With rising inflation and a persistent cost of living crisis, we've had to be extremely mindful of how we price and position our products," Hopkinson says. "Consumers are feeling the pinch... We're planning to launch a more cost-effective product line later this year that delivers the same commitment to quality, just at a more accessible price point."
Still, the brand remains as trendsetting as ever. "We don't want to just follow trends in the food and beverage industry - we want to create them!" Hopkinson declares. Being born on social media - where the brand first took off through Straker's butter-focused videos - gives All Things Butter a powerful edge. "Our social channels provide us with a direct route to our customers and their feedback… This helps guide us when considering new product developments and helps us stay ahead of the curve."
So what would Hopkinson tell those considering their own leap into the entrepreneurial unknown? "Startups need a great idea, the right timing, the right skills, and a fair bit of luck," he says with characteristic candour. "There are so many talented startups that... don't succeed due to factors beyond their control." Yet, belief matters. "We turned our idea into a reality through having confidence in the idea... This confidence in the concept is what really enabled me to use my evenings, weekends and holidays to go out and put money where our mouth is."
And the most critical skill? Knowing when to leap. "As an entrepreneur, you have to be able to pull the trigger on some ideas and not just say yes to everything." In a market slow to change, All Things Butter has proved that even something as everyday as a pat of butter can be a vehicle for innovation, connection, and - just maybe - revolution.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Raise taxes to bring down energy bills, British Gas boss tells Reeves
The boss of British Gas owner Centrica has urged Rachel Reeves to raise taxes to bring down energy bills. Chris O'Shea said the Chancellor must act to prevent hard-up households from shouldering the cost of Ed Miliband's net zero transition. In particular, he signalled that Centrica would support plans to shift green levies from household bills to general taxation. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House, he said: 'The cost of the energy transition is not small. 'It's not because renewables are expensive, it's just because we have an energy system that was designed for a world that no longer exists, so we're having to upgrade the energy system and that requires a quite substantial investment. 'At the moment, the costs for doing that come off consumer bills. There is an option to put that on general taxation and that's something that we would support at Centrica.' Mr O'Shea acknowledged that the Chancellor was facing significant financial pressures, especially ahead of the upcoming spending review. However, he said: 'The reality is that we as a country have to pay for the upgrade of the energy infrastructure, either through bills or through general taxation.' His comments come amid mounting scrutiny over so-called green levies, which are charges added to household energy bills to help fund renewables such as wind and solar. These are seen as key to supporting Mr Miliband's target of reaching net zero by 2050. However, critics have accused the Energy Secretary of failing to tackle sky-high energy bills. The Climate Change Committee, which advises the Government on its emissions targets, has said that green levies should be removed from household costs and shifted either on to gas bills or general taxation. In a report last month, the quango said it was concerned that high electricity bills were preventing consumers from buying heat pumps and electric cars, which in turn was slowing down the energy transition. Business leaders have also urged Mr Miliband to scrap green levies as British companies grapple with the highest electricity prices of anywhere in the developed world. Rain Newton-Smith, the director general of the Confederation for British Industry (CBI), last week warned that the net zero costs were acting as an 'anchor' on UK ambitions. Household energy bills are set to fall next month after regulator Ofgem said it would lower the price cap by £129. Nevertheless, high energy costs remain a key political concern, especially as Britain ploughs ahead with a costly transition to renewable sources. In a sign of tensions over Labour's net zero strategy, Sir Keir Starmer has intervened in controversial proposals to make homes and businesses in the South pay more for power than those in the North. Supporters of so-called zonal pricing, which is under consideration by Mr Miliband, claim the switch would lead to savings of £52bn for consumers. Mr O'Shea said increasing energy storage would help to lower prices, but warned that other measures would amount to simply redistributing costs. He said: 'If we're just talking about reallocating things then the cost has to be met by the country. The question is who in the country meets that cost – is it consumers, is it businesses, is it the taxpayer?' The comments come a month after Centrica faced a shareholder backlash over Mr O'Shea's £4.3m pay package. The energy chief was handed a 29pc salary increase, though his total pay was down sharply on the year before, when it ballooned to £8m thanks to a bonus. Mr O'Shea has previously said it was 'impossible to justify' his pay when millions of households are struggling with their bills. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
CNN
37 minutes ago
- CNN
Germany plans rapid expansion of outdated bunkers amid fears of Russian aggression
Germany's aging and decrepit bunker network is in need a major overhaul, according to the head of the federal agency tasked with nationwide civil protection in case of an attack. The Federal Agency for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief (BBK) President Ralph Tiesler said in an interview with popular German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 'For a long time, there was a widespread belief in Germany that war was not a scenario we needed to prepare for. That has changed. We are concerned about the risk of a major war of aggression in Europe.' Tiesler's words represent a real fear, echoed across Europe, that Russia could try to mount an attack on Europe again within four years. That timeframe is widely regarded as the minimum period Russia would need to rearm after fighting a bloody and long campaign in Ukraine. Germany only has 580 bunkers, many of them not operational, the newspaper report said. That number is down from nearly 2,000 that existed during the Cold War. Just 5% of the German population would currently be able to seek shelter in the event of an attack, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported. Germany's population is about 83 million people. The civil protection agency chief said that he will upgrade tunnels, metro stations, underground garages and basements of public buildings to 'quickly create one million shelter spaces,' as well as expand the nation's siren and notification systems. Tiesler said his agency will be presenting a full plan for the revamp and expansion in the summer but added that funding still needed to be secured. 'New bunker systems with very high protection requirements cost a lot of money and time,' said Tiesler. He noted that the BBK will likely require 'at least' 10 billion euros ($11billion) in the next four years and a further 30 billion euros ($34 billion) in the following 10 years to complete the overhaul. There is some cause for optimism, though, for the German agency. Friedrich Merz, before officially becoming chancellor, managed to unlock half a trillion euros ($570 billion) in spending for Germany's defense, some of which the BBK would be eligible to receive. However, given the scale of the task of updating the German armed forces the allocation of money may be prioritized elsewhere. Merz recently vowed to make Germany's army the strongest in Europe, but in order to meet that pledge, he will be required to spend huge sums of money to modernize, train and equip soldiers. A report released earlier this year from the parliament's armed forces commission pointed out that the German army has 'too little of everything.' It has long been underfunded, and much of the basic infrastructure of the army, including barracks, is well below standard, the Bundestag report said. It also comes as the army struggles to meet recruitment targets. In 2018, Germany committed to boosting its standing forces to 203,000 by 2025 — a target date that was later revised to 2031. The current standing size of the Germany army is just 181,000. Merz's government is mulling the possibility of introducing mandatory military service. The issue of manpower also concerns Tiesler and the BBK. 'We lack personnel in an emergency,' he told the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung. 'Perhaps we need a mandatory military service or a voluntary civil defense service… One that allows the choice between civilian and military service for the country,' he said.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Kia commits to hatchbacks with wave of Golf rivals
Kia is committed to launching more hatchbacks and saloons, rather than going all in on SUVs, as it prepares the European launch of ICE-powered and electric hatchbacks to rival the Volkswagen Golf and ID 3. Speaking exclusively to Autocar, Kia executive vice-president Ted Lee said there was still 'big volume' for hatchback models in Europe in particular, and he confirmed the firm would continue to offer them and indeed launch all-new family hatchback models. The first of these new hatchbacks, the EV4, will be the first electric Kia to be built in Europe when it's launched in the UK in October. The hatchback will be built at Kia's plant in Slovakia, but it will also be offered as a saloon imported into Europe from South Korea. The EV4 will be joined by the new K4, which was unveiled in hatchback form at the recent New York motor show and will eventually replace the outgoing Ceed in Europe. The EV4 takes the place of the Ceed in the Slovakian factory, so the K4 will be imported to Europe from Kia's plant in Mexico in both hatch and saloon forms. An estate version of the K4 has also been spotted undergoing testing, making what would be a three-strong model range for the K4 ahead of an expected launch later this year. More broadly, Lee believes that Kia currently has a 'strong position in Europe'. He added: 'Especially in the UK, where we have a very strong stance'. Lee was the first Korean to work at Kia UK , joining in 2002, when the UK operation became a wholly owned subsidiary of Kia's main global business. He now co-ordinates the firm's global business outside of Korea. While Kia sales in Europe did slip back slightly year-on-year in 2024, they have still grown more than 30% since 2020. In the UK, Kia has sold more than 100,000 cars for three years running, and it is currently the third best-selling brand in 2025, less than 300 units behind second-placed BMW. Increased competition in Europe from Chinese brands makes for a 'difficult market ', Lee admitted, but Kia will look to further strengthen its aftersales, parts supply and customer journeys in particular. 'We have to strengthen the advantages of Kia in the market,' he said. Kia will not get embroiled in a price war in Europe in the face of new lower-cost competition and will not 'push' cars onto the market; it will instead maintain a laser focus on residual values, which it credits as partly responsible for the 'sustainable growth' the brand has enjoyed. Lee said Kia has done this by maintaining a 'pull demand strategy', by which cars are not pushed to dealers and onto customers at discounted rates but built and sold according to customer demand. Describing this as a 'healthy cycle', Lee said: ' It might sound very easy, but in reality it requires a very strong determination and sense of principle.' ]]>
