Marco Canora was responsible for creating the wellness sensation of 2015 when he opened Brodo, a takeaway shop offering cups of bone broth in New York’s East Village. He is also the lauded owner and head chef of Hearth Restaurant in Manhattan, which has been praised by New York food critics since its opening in 2003.

Lauren Mechling of American Vogue interviewed the chef for the magazine’s December 2015 edition and discovered that one of his key healthy kitchen swaps is the replacement of grain-fed butter with grass-fed butter, of the type produced in Ireland.

Canora told Mechling that grass-fed butter is higher in Omega-3 fatty acids than corn-fed butters. “It’s a healthier fat, and I think it tastes better than the kind from cows who eat corn [maize],” he said.

Kardashian endorsement

Canora’s promotion of grass-fed butter comes off the back of another much-welcomed celebrity plug for Irish butter last year. Kourtney Kardashian, the eldest of the Kardashian sisters, included Kerrygold Irish butter in her recipe for rice krispie treats on her blog last December.

At the time, we said this mention of Kerrygold on Kourtney’s website and app could give the Kerrygold brand a further boost in the US and indeed across the world.

Now, Canora has added his weight to the turning tide of opinion among US consumers on whether typically Irish grass-fed products taste better and are healthier than typically North American grain-fed products.

Success of Kerrygold

While celebrity endorsement of grass-fed dairy products is always welcome, Irish beef is the new frontier when it comes to encouraging American consumers to develop a taste for our grass-fed food products.

The Kerrygold brand is currently the number one selling imported butter brand in the US and the number three overall butter brand.

However, the US market only opened to Irish beef for the first time in many years in late 2014, and according to US beef analyst Kevin Grier, Americans will need to be educated about the benefits of grass-fed beef if Ireland is to be successful in exporting to the country. “American consumers have developed a taste for grain-fed beef due to marbling and tenderness”, Grier said.

Read more

US dairy consumption continues to increase

Beef exports to USA valued at €11m in 2015

Weaker euro powers Irish exports to €10.8bn