I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!
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| Product type | Butter substitute |
|---|---|
| Owner | Unilever |
| Country | United States, United Kingdom |
| Introduced | 1981[1] |
| Markets | Global |
| Website | www.icantbelieveitsnotbutter.com |
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! is a butter substitute produced by Becel/Flora/Promise, which is a subsidiary of Unilever.[2]
The J.H. Filbert company, based in Baltimore, Maryland, invented the product in 1979, and first marketed it in 1981.[1] The company was acquired by Unilever in 1986, who also received the butter-substitute brand for $1. Unilever then expanded its sales of the product, previously only available primarily in the Washington/Baltimore area, throughout the United States in 1988, and later to the United Kingdom and Canada in 1991.[3][4][5][6] The product was put on the market in Germany in 2011 and in Chile in 2012. Advertisements featuring the product often end with the question, "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, can you?"
In addition to the regular spread, there is also a spray-bottle version.[7]
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Consumer sales [edit]
United States [edit]
It was reported in July 2005 (per research from the market research company Information Resources) that the product at that time led in product sales for its category of margarines, butter blends and spreads at $244.7 million USD,[7] summarized from 52 weeks up to July 10, 2005.[7]
Nutritional information [edit]
United States [edit]
The United States ingredients for the current Original Spread variety are:[8]
- Vegetable Oil Blend (Liquid Soybean Oil, Non-Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Liquid Canola Oil)
- Water
- Natural Sweet Cream Buttermilk
- Salt
- Natural Soy Lecithin
- Vegetable Mono and Diglycerides
- (Potassium Sorbate, Calcium Disodium EDTA) Used to Protect Quality
- Citric Acid
- Natural and Artificial Flavors
- Vitamin A (Palmitate)
- Beta Carotene (For Color)
United Kingdom [edit]
The basic British formulation is:[9]
- Vegetable Oils
- Buttermilk (5%)
- Water
- Salt (1.5%)
- Emulsifiers: Mono- and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids
- Sunflower Lecithin
- Preservative: Potassium Sorbate
- Vitamin E
- Citric Acid
- Flavouring
- Colour: Beta-Carotene
- Vitamins A & D.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ a b Lazarus, George (June 1, 1981). "Filbert can't believe you won't like its new butter blend". Chicago Tribune. ("Filbert has moved into the Syracuse, Albany, and Pittsburgh markets with a one-pound blend called "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter."") (subscription required)
- ^ "Brands for life". Unilever.com. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
- ^ Wyman, Carolyn (2004). Better Than Homemade: Amazing Foods That Changed The Way We Eat. Quirk Books. pp.50-52. ISBN 1931686424
- ^ "I can't believe it's not Butter!". Unilever.co.uk (United Kingdom). Retrieved April 30, 2012.
- ^ "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter". Unilever.ca (Canada). Retrieved April 30, 2012.
- ^ Jones, Geoffrey (2005). Renewing Unilever: Transformation and Tradition. Oxford University Press. pp. 102-03. ISBN 0199269432
- ^ a b c Elliott, Stuart (July 26, 2005). "I Can't Believe It's Not a TV Ad!". The New York Times. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
- ^ "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! Products". Icantbelieveitsnotbutter.com. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
- ^ "Product Information (I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!)". Groceries.asda.com. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
Additional sources [edit]
- (Staff report) (June 16, 2006). "Fabio, Longtime Margarine Champ, Passes Crown to New Spokeshunk". New York Observer. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
- Marikar, Sheila (May 17, 2011). "Kim Cattrall on 'Sex and the City,' Hollywood 'Mania' and 'Having It All'". ABC News. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
- Cerklewski, Florian L. (September 2005). "Calcium fortification of food can add unneeded dietary phosphorus". Volume 18, Issue 6. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. pp. 595–598. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
External links [edit]
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