CHALLENGE
Castle Dairies is a respected Welsh butter brand, but its provenance-led positioning limited its ability to scale nationally. With ambitions to secure major retailer listings, the business needed a new brand that could compete in the mainstream butter category while retaining the craft and credibility that set it apart. The challenge was to create a challenger brand that could travel beyond Wales and stand out against global, more corporate competitors.
INSIGHT
In a category dominated by functional brands, butter had become oddly joyless. Yet for the people who make it best, butter is an obsession. Nigel and his team weren’t just manufacturers, they were butter obsessives, constantly tinkering to make better butter.
SOLUTION
We created Butterworks as a purpose-built challenger brand, starting with the name itself. Inspired by the experimental HQ where new butters are imagined and perfected, The Butterworks reframed the business as a place of creativity and invention, not just production. This gave the brand a clear role as the engine for innovation and growth, distinct from Castle Dairies, while still rooted in craft and expertise. The strategy provided a flexible platform that could support new products, flavours and formats as the brand scaled nationally.
IMPACT
Created the blueprint for the Castle Dairies rebrand.
Secured national distribution for both Butterworks and Castle Dairies following their rebrands.
Delivered incremental growth with Butterworks outselling (pre-rebrand) Castle Dairies by an average of 525%.
One of The Grocer’s fastest growing UK brands – Castle Dairies (the parent company) ranked #23 with a two-year compound interest growth rate of 23%.
