When Butter Is Not Butter
I scraped every butter product on Woolworths. Less than half are real butter. Here's the full ingredient breakdown.
I wanted to know what I was actually buying when I searched "butter" on Woolworths. So I scraped every product that comes back, pulled the ingredients from each one, and classified them.
The short answer: less than half the products in Woolworths' butter results are actually butter.
Method
Searched "Butter" on woolworths.com.au. Filtered to dairy-shelf products (excluded peanut butter, almond butter, cooking sauces, etc). Pulled ingredients via Woolworths' product detail API for each one. Classified each product into three categories:
- Real Butter — cream (from milk), maybe salt, maybe cultures. No vegetable oil, no emulsifiers.
- Butter Blend — contains real butter (40–65%) mixed with canola or vegetable oil to make it spreadable. Still labelled with "butter" prominently.
- Margarine / Spread — primarily vegetable oil. May say "buttery" on the label. Not butter.
56 dairy-shelf products total (excluding one nut butter that appeared in results).
The numbers
| Category | Count | % |
|---|---|---|
| Real Butter | 26 | 46% |
| Butter Blend | 15 | 27% |
| Margarine / Spread | 15 | 27% |
Every product, with ingredients
Real Butter (26 products)
| Product | Price | /100g | Ingredients | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Woolworths Salted Butter 500g | $7.00 | $1.40 | Cream (from Milk), Salt |
 | Woolworths Australian Butter Salted 250g | $4.50 | $1.80 | Cream (Milk), Salt |
 | Woolworths Australian Butter Unsalted 250g | $4.50 | $1.80 | Cream (Milk) |
 | Essentials Unsalted Butter 500g | $7.00 | $1.40 | Cream (Milk) |
 | Western Star Salted Butter Block 500g | $9.50 | $1.90 | Pasteurised cream (milk), salt. Min 80% Milk Fat |
 | Western Star Salted Butter Block 250g | $4.90 | $1.96 | Pasteurised cream (milk), salt. Min 80% Milk Fat |
 | Western Star Unsalted Chef's Choice 500g | $9.50 | $1.90 | Pasteurised cream (milk), cultures (milk). Min 80% Milk Fat |
 | Western Star Unsalted Chef's Choice 250g | $4.90 | $1.96 | Pasteurised cream (milk), cultures (milk). Min 80% Milk Fat |
 | Westgold Butter Salted 400g | $8.00 | $2.00 | Cream (from milk), salt |
 | Westgold Butter Unsalted 400g | $8.00 | $2.00 | Cream (from milk) |
 | Westgold Unsalted Butter 250g | $4.80 | $1.92 | Cream (Milk Product), Water |
 | Westgold Salted Butter 250g | $4.80 | $1.92 | Milk (cream product), Salt |
 | Mainland Buttersoft Pure Butter Tub 375g | $10.60 | $2.83 | Pasteurised Cream (From Milk), Salt |
 | Macro Organic Salted Butter 250g | $5.20 | $2.08 | Organic Cream (Milk), Salt. 80% Milk Fat |
 | Ballantyne Traditional Salted Butter 250g | $4.50 | $1.80 | Pasteurised cream, water, salt. Min 80% Milk Fat |
 | Lurpak Butter Slightly Salted 250g | $7.25 | $2.90 | Butter (Milk), Lactic Culture (Milk), Salt |
 | Lurpak Butter Block Slightly Salted 400g | $10.00 | $2.50 | Butter (Milk), Lactic Culture (Milk), Salt |
 | Lurpak Butter Unsalted 250g | $7.25 | $2.90 | Butter (Milk), Lactic Culture (Milk) |
 | Lurpak Butter Unsalted 400g | $10.00 | $2.50 | Butter (Milk), Lactic Culture (Milk) |
 | Lurpak Butter Slightly Salted 4×50g | $6.00 | $3.00 | Cream (milk), lactic acid culture (milk), salt |
 | Lurpak Garlic Butter 125g | $4.00 | $3.20 | Butter, Garlic (7.5%), Salt (2%), Pepper Extract. Min 75% fat |
 | Devondale Butter Block Unsalted 250g | $5.80 | $2.32 | (not listed — known pure butter) |
 | Devondale Butter Block Salted 250g | $5.80 | $2.32 | (not listed — known pure butter) |
 | Devondale Butter Block Salted 500g | $9.30 | $1.86 | (not listed — known pure butter) |
 | Devondale Butter Block Unsalted 500g | $9.30 | $1.86 | (not listed — known pure butter) |
 | Tru Blu Garlic Butter 150g | $3.35 | $2.23 | (not listed) |
Butter Blends (15 products)
These all say "butter" on the label but contain vegetable oil.
| Product | Price | /100g | Butter % | Other key ingredients | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Lurpak Spreadable Slightly Salted 400g | $9.00 | $2.25 | 64% | Canola oil, water, vit D |
 | Lurpak Spreadable Slightly Salted 250g | $6.50 | $2.60 | 64% | Canola oil, water, vit D |
 | Lurpak Lighter Spreadable 250g | $6.50 | $2.60 | 40% | Water, canola oil, salt, vit D |
 | Mainland Organic Spreadable 250g | $8.00 | $3.20 | 65% | Canola oil (29%), water, vit D |
 | Western Star Gold Cultured 340g | $7.30 | $2.15 | 63% | Canola oil (30%), water, vit D |
 | Devondale Dairy Soft Spreadable 500g | $8.00 | $1.60 | 56% | Water, canola oil, vitamins, colour |
 | Devondale Dairy Soft Salt Reduced 500g | $8.00 | $1.60 | 56% | Water, canola oil, vitamins, colour |
 | Devondale Extra Soft Spreadable 750g | $10.90 | $1.45 | 43% | Water, canola oil, buttermilk powder, vitamins, colour |
 | Devondale Extra Soft Spreadable 500g | $8.00 | $1.60 | 43% | Water, canola oil, buttermilk powder, vitamins, colour |
 | Western Star Original Spreadable 500g | $7.00 | $1.40 | undisclosed | Vegetable oil, butteroil, emulsifier, flavour, vitamins, colour |
 | Western Star Original Spreadable 375g | $5.00 | $1.33 | undisclosed | Vegetable oil, butteroil, emulsifier, flavour, vitamins, colour |
 | Western Star Supersoft Spreadable 500g | $7.00 | $1.40 | undisclosed | Vegetable oil, water, butteroil, emulsifier, preservative (202), flavour |
 | Western Star Supersoft Spreadable 375g | $5.00 | $1.33 | undisclosed | Vegetable oil, water, butteroil, emulsifier, preservative (202), flavour |
 | Western Star Soft 'n' Less Salt 500g | $7.00 | $1.40 | ~60% dairy | Vegetable oil (min 34%), emulsifier, preservative (202), flavour |
 | Western Star Soft 'N' Less Salt 375g | $5.00 | $1.33 | undisclosed | Vegetable oil, butteroil, emulsifier, preservative (202), flavour |
Margarine / Spreads (15 products)
These are primarily vegetable oil. Some say "buttery" on the label. None are butter.
| Product | Price | /100g | Ingredients (summary) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Flora With Butter Spreadable 450g | $4.90 | $1.09 | Vegetable oils, water, butter (10%), buttermilk, sea salt, emulsifiers, preservative |
 | Bertolli With Butter & Sea Salt 450g | $6.50 | $1.44 | Vegetable oils (14% olive oil), water, butter (8%), buttermilk, sea salt, emulsifiers |
 | Flora Margarine Spread Buttery 500g | $5.25 | $1.05 | Vegetable oils (63%), water, buttermilk (8%), salt, emulsifiers, preservative |
 | Flora Margarine Spread Buttery 1kg | $7.00 | $0.70 | Vegetable oils (63%), water, buttermilk (8%), salt, emulsifiers, preservative |
 | Flora Proactiv Margarine Buttery 750g | $12.00 | $1.60 | Vegetable oils, water, buttermilk (8%), phytosterol esters (8%), salt, emulsifiers |
 | Flora Proactiv Margarine Buttery 250g | $5.75 | $2.30 | (not listed) |
 | Flora Proactiv Margarine Spread 500g | $10.00 | $2.00 | (not listed) |
 | Rama Margarine Spread Buttery 500g | $3.00 | $0.60 | Vegetable oils (incl canola 41%), water, salt, emulsifiers, preservative |
 | Nuttelex Buttery 1kg | $9.00 | $0.90 | Vegetable oils, water, salt, emulsifiers, flavour, vitamins A/D/E |
 | Nuttelex Buttery Table Spread 500g | $5.20 | $1.04 | Vegetable oils, water, salt, emulsifiers, flavour, vitamins A/D/E |
 | Nuttelex Light Buttery Spread 500g | $5.20 | $1.04 | Water, vegetable oils, salt, emulsifiers, flavour, vitamins A/D/E |
 | Olive Grove Buttery Spread 500g | $6.00 | $1.20 | Vegetable oils (19% olive oil), water, sea salt, emulsifiers, milk solids, preservative |
 | Woolworths Olive Oil Spread 500g | $3.50 | $0.70 | Vegetable oils (canola, olive 14%, hydrogenated palm), water, salt, emulsifiers |
 | Essentials Table Spread 500g | $2.20 | $0.44 | Vegetable oils (canola, hydrogenated palm), water, salt, emulsifiers |
 | Woolworths Essentials Table Spread 1kg | $2.80 | $0.28 | Vegetable oils (canola, hydrogenated palm), water, salt, emulsifiers |
What stands out
Western Star has the widest range. Their blocks are real butter — cream and salt, min 80% milk fat. Their spreadable tubs contain vegetable oil, emulsifiers, preservatives (202), and added flavour and colour. Same brand name, completely different products.
"Spreadable" is the grey area. Lurpak Spreadable, Devondale Dairy Soft, Western Star Original — these all say "butter" prominently but are 40–65% butter diluted with canola oil. Devondale Extra Soft is only 43% butter.
"Buttery" is margarine's favourite word. Flora, Nuttelex, Rama, and Olive Grove all use it to position vegetable oil spreads next to real butter in search results and on the shelf. None of these products contain meaningful amounts of butter.
The cheapest products are never butter. Woolworths Essentials Table Spread at $0.28/100g vs real butter at $1.40–$2.83/100g. You're paying for cream vs vegetable oil.
If you want real butter, buy blocks. Every single butter block product on Woolworths is real butter. Every single product with "spreadable" or "soft" in the name is a blend or margarine. The correlation is 100%.
The purest options
If you care about buying actual butter (cream + salt, nothing else):
- Woolworths own-brand — cheapest real butter at $1.40/100g
- Essentials Unsalted — just cream, $1.40/100g
- Western Star blocks (not spreadable) — $1.86–$1.96/100g
- Westgold — NZ grass-fed, $1.92–$2.00/100g
- Ballantyne — $1.80/100g
- Mainland Buttersoft Pure Butter Tub — the only tub that's actually pure butter, $2.83/100g
- Macro Organic — certified organic, $2.08/100g
- Lurpak blocks — Danish, cultured, $2.50–$2.90/100g
Data scraped from woolworths.com.au on 27 May 2026 via product detail API. Prices and ingredients as listed by Woolworths at time of scrape. Some products had no ingredients listed on the site — classification based on known product type.