Demand for margarine — which for decades outperformed butter — has plummeted so much that some Woolworths Metro stores no longer stock the staple at all.
Woolworths couldn’t state how many of its Metro stores didn’t sell margarine, but it made up just 20 percent of sales in that category, compared to 80 percent for butter.
When Daily Mail Australia visited the Woolworths Metro store opposite Central Station on Elizabeth Street in Surry Hills, staff said there was no margarine available.
Instead, the refrigerator was stocked with ten butters from Lurpak, Western Star, Mainland, Devondale and Woolworths, and a house-brand olive oil spread.
Consumers looking for margarine in some Woolworths Metro stores will not find it because they don’t have it in stock. Woolworths couldn’t state how many stores didn’t sell margarine, but it made up just 20 percent of sales in that category, compared to 80 percent for butter
A Woolworths spokeswoman confirmed that the Central Station Store was one of those not offering margarine as an alternative to butter.
“We continue to stock margarine in most of our Metro stores,” the spokeswoman said.
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“However, due to space constraints in our main train station store, we have tailored our range to focus on butter as this tends to be a more popular choice with customers in the region.”
The spokeswoman said only Metro locations near train stations do not stock margarine, which is available in all neighborhood Woolworths stores.
Thirty years ago margarine outsold butter almost three to one in Australia.
By the mid-1970s, margarine, made from vegetable oil, was considered a healthier alternative to butter due to increased awareness of cholesterol and the dairy’s alleged role in heart disease.
Meadow Lea’s hugely successful and long-running You Should Be Congratulated television advertising campaign further increased the popularity of margarine.
Created by Alan Morris and Alan Johnson of Mojo agency, these commercials promoted margarine as a substitute for butter in the preparation of almost all meals.
Woolworths Metro store across from Central Station in Surry Hills has no margarine but has ten butter options and an olive oil spread (above)
A couple of tubs of Meadow Lea margarine sat in a fridge full of butter on the newly opened Woolworths Metro opposite Redfern Station this week
With catchy jingles and questionable rhymes like “I have to say, your scones are absolutely amazing”, the commercials ran in high rotation from the 1970s to the 1980s.
A report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare put the market shares of margarine and butter in 1992 at 73.9 percent and 26.1 percent, respectively.
Butter vs. margarine: the heart of the matter
The Heart Foundation recommends eating butter in small amounts.
“Butter is not a healthy food and should be used in limited ways as part of a heart-healthy diet,” it says.
“There is evidence that between butter and mortality and heart disease there is a relatively low or neutral risk.”
The foundation says butter raises both good and bad cholesterol, but the bad outweighs the good.
Butter contains saturated fats and trans fats, which are unhealthy.
Margarine contains healthy polyunsaturated fats (omega-3 and omega-6), as do tahini and nut spreads.
Source: The Heart Foundation
A turning point came after a US study was published in 1993, which found that trans fats, produced when vegetable oils are hydrogenated, may pose a greater health risk than cholesterol.
In the late 1990s, margarine sales began to fall significantly, and in 2015 a Roy Morgan study showed that butter had taken the lead. Spreads made from nuts and olive oil have also become popular.
Roy Morgan found that butter buyers are more likely to enjoy cooking than margarine consumers and are more likely to want unprocessed foods with no additives.
Margarines now contain healthy polyunsaturated fats (omega-3 and omega-6) and little or no trans fats. The Heart Foundation still recommends margarine over butter.
“Butter is not a healthy food and should be limited as part of a heart-healthy diet,” the foundation’s website says.
“There is evidence that between butter and mortality and heart disease there is a relatively low or neutral risk.”
The online platform Statista, which compiles consumer data, estimates the turnover of the Australian margarine market for 2023 at around US$420 million and for butter at almost US$1 billion.
The Woolworths spokeswoman said customers can provide feedback on items they want to see in stores through their “Picked by You” program.
“We strive to design our stores to best serve the needs of our local community,” she said.
Inside the newly opened Woolworths Metro across from Redfern Station this week, there were just a few tins of Meadow Lea margarine in a fridge full of butter.
A Woolworths spokeswoman confirmed that the Central Station Store (above) was one of those not offering margarine as an alternative to butter
