The Benefits of Butter + Kerry Gold vs. St. Brigid’s Creamery: An In-Depth Analysis

In a recent Instagram post featuring St. Brigid’s Creamery grass-fed butter, I extoled the benefits of cooking with good-quality butter over industrial seed oils or margarine.

Not only is grass-fed butter a rich source of essential fat-soluble vitamins like A, D and K; it also provides healthy fatty acids like hormone-balancing Omega 3’s, Butyrate (which reduces inflammation) and CLA (which has been shown to reduce belly fat, protect against cancer and support muscle growth). 

Not to mention – it’s freakin’ delicious. 

I only began reintroducing butter into my diet within the last year or so (and so far my body, skin and hair seem to be celebrating), and I’m always on the lookout for local, organic and/or grass-fed animal products to recommend to clients to complement an otherwise plant-forward way of eating.

It’s true – I share a lot about my favorite meat and dairy producers on my socials and E-blasts lately, and that’s because I’m passionate about the difference that sourcing properly-raised animal products can make – to our health, to the environment, and to the animals.

But my diet is still predominantly plant-based. I still believe whole-heartedly in the protective and health-promoting aspects of consuming whole, high-fibre, high-antioxidant plant foods, and I still believe that, generally speaking, we as North Americans consume far more animal products (specifically industrially-farmed meat and dairy) than we need.

But for most of us, supplementing our diet with a moderate amount of high-quality animal protein delivers a myriad of benefits, such as better digestion, stable blood sugar, healthier connective tissue (think hair, skin, nails, and joints)… even improved cognitive function and mental health. And I’ve always believed that, if we are going to consume animal products, they should be from animals living the way nature intended, eating what nature intended, and being treated with the utmost respect.

When my partner and I first came across St. Brigid’s Creamery grass-fed butter in a farmer’s market in Port Stanley, Ontario, I was convinced without a doubt that I’d found the be-all-and-end-all of butters: organic, regeneratively-farmed, and intensely-flavoured with a rich, golden-yellow colour from the beta-carotene-rich pastures on which the cows grazed. After doing some research, I decided to see how it compared the internationally-renowned household favourite, Kerrygold – a pure Irish butter that’s widely regarded as one of the best in the world for flavour and quality.

Here’s how the two stacked up:

Certified Organic?

St. Brigid’s boasts an organic certification by Pro-Cert (Creamery) and C.S.I. (Farm).

Kerrygold is NOT organic, which means the cows graze on fields that may be treated with approved pesticides or herbicides, although they assert that they would “only be treated when absolutely necessary and on a targeted basis. Once treated, the fields are closed off for a withholding period before any animals can return to graze on the pasture”.

Grass-Fed?

NEITHER St. Brigid’s or Kerrygold are 100% grass-fed and grass-finished.

However, Kerrygold dairy products are certified to Ireland’s “Grass-Fed Dairy Standard”, which requires the milk to be sourced from select cows that are fed an average of 95% grass or grass forage on a fresh weight basis.

St. Brigid’s cows are fed according to Grass-Fed Certifications by Dairy Farmers of Ontario, which means grass or grass forage must provide at least 75% of the total dry matter intake of a dairy cow.

A2 Protein?

St. Brigid’s butter comes from Jersey cows that have only the A2/A2 beta casein protein in their milk, which means it’s easier to digest for individuals who may be sensitive to other dairy products.

Kerrygold is made from both A1 and A2 milk from mostly Holstein and Friesian cows.

Regeneratively Farmed?

St. Brigid’s operates on “A commitment to the regeneration of our soils, the health of our communities, and animal welfare”, and are Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World.

While Kerrygold is NOT regeneratively-farmed, they operate in accordance with Ireland’s Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme – the only one of its kind in the world.

Small Herds?

St. Brigid’s grazes a small herd of healthy and happy Jersey cows on the certified organic pastures of their family farm located near Brussels in Huron County, Ontario.

Given its wide availability in high-end grocers and health food stores across North America and internationally, Kerrygold is produced and marketed on a much larger scale, BUT their website markets that they source milk from 14,000 different approved farm co-operatives in Ireland, many of which are family-run and average small herds.

The bottom line?

Both St. Brigid’s and Kerrygold have their pros and cons. 100% grass-fed, grass-finished butter is difficult to come by, given the challenges of feeding cattle fresh forage year-round in all climates, but Kerrygold does come out slightly ahead in this regard, given the slightly tighter criteria for grass-fed certifications in the U.K.

Other claims, however – such as those regarding organic practices, small herd sizes, and sustainability – are more difficult to substantiate, and may simply come down to a question of marketing, although we’ll probably never know for sure.

What we DO know is that St. Brigid’s is a local, family-run Ontario farm that is certified organic, as well as passionate about producing superior-quality butter that is easy on digestion, easy on the animals, and easy on the environment… if not always easy on our wallets.

And what about flavor?

I prefer the clean richness of St. Brigid’s, while my partner prefers the supple depth and unctuousness of Kerrygold. Like most things, it comes down to personal preference.