Where Costco's Grass-Fed Butter Comes From

Costco is known for its great deals, awesome sweatpants, and truly satisfying food court (after a long hour of pushing that heavy cart? You've earned the super-cheap hot dog combo). It's also known for its Kirkland Signature house brand, which in many cases is just as good as national, recognizable brands (because hey, in some cases, they're manufactured by the same companies). This is true in many minds for the Kirkland Signature Grass-Fed Butter, which is a dupe for Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter. The biggest difference, though? They're imported from different countries.

You see, Kerrygold hails from Ireland (hence the "Pure Irish Butter" in its name), while Kirkland Signature's 95% Grass-fed Butter comes to us all the way from New Zealand. We know this because if an item is internationally sourced it must state its country of origin on the packaging. But Costco is proud of its grass-fed butter's origins in New Zealand (land of what was supposedly the world's largest potato), as representatives from Costco opted to team up with Westland Milk Products in Hokitika to produce the astonishingly yellow dairy product, which hit store shelves in 2021.

You might be wondering why the fuss over New Zealand butter, when Ireland is literally right there and has been serving up the golden creamy stuff for decades. New Zealand has a uniquely temperate climate that allows the cows who produce the milk from which the butter is churned to graze outside pretty much all year round. Additionally, the extra lush vegetation, which is the product of high year-round rainfall, naturally puts more carotene in the cows' milk, which is what gives New Zealand butter its extraordinarily yellow hue.

Westland Milk Products, which is located on the western coast of South Island, has been in operation for over 150 years. It serves as the point of convergence for milk that comes from over 400 different New Zealand farms, where the raw milk is then turned into butter by master butter-makers who can tell, just by looking at it, when the product is perfect.