Butter or the Month: Finlandia Imported Salted Butter

Unboring Rating – 3 cows out of 4 cows

Finlandia.

Sounds like a magical place where the water is pure and pristine. The sky is clear and blue. The people are happier and live longer. No, Finlandia (the place) doesn’t exist, but it closely resembles a country that actually does: Finland.

Finland is one of four Nordic countries that straddle the Norwegian and Baltic Seas. Indeed, the countries in this region of the planet appear to have a dynasty when it comes to winning The Happiest Country award (countries in the Nordic region have won this award five years in a row). This year is the third year in a row Finland won The Happiest Country honors.

It stands to reason that the cows living in the world’s happiest country are the world’s happiest cows. Hmmm, the happiest country in the world is also home to butter made from the happiest cows in the world? Must be something in the butter (That set-up was way too easy). That’s not a reach on our end, the company that makes Finlandia Imported Salted Butter openly states on its webpage:

“We know the happier the cow, the better the milk.”

That company is Finlandia Cheese and it consists of Finnish family-owned farms with over 110 years of experience. Finlandia Cheese is part of Valio Limited which has its own legacy of excellence in cheese-making (Valio’s Director of Research earned a Nobel Prize). The combined dairy expertise behind Finlandia’s Imported Salted Butter is unmistakable. This is an exceptionally well-crafted broadly distributed butter.

The butter comes regally packaged in a gold foil wrapped brick. Finlandia prioritizes provenance over process. The most prominent call-out on the packaging is ‘Finlandia Imported Butter.’ A smaller box below this calls out ‘Fresh from Finland.’ This is interesting because the butter is actually made from the milk of grass-fed cows which is stated on the packaging, but somehow gets lost among all the graphics and claims despite being printed in rather large type. This is a stark contrast to another very well established grass-fed butter that also comes wrapped in a gold foil brick. That butter is also imported, but chooses to prioritize the fact that the milk comes from grass-fed cows.

Of all the dozens of butters that we’ve unwrapped, this butter was by far the most impressive in appearance. There was not a single blemish on the brick we sampled. There were no crease marks from the packaging. There were no scratches or indents. There was no patchiness. The butter’s surface was as smooth as a bar of soap’s which is appropriate because we could totally bathe our organic heirloom oats in this butter for our signature Butter Baked Granola. The closest we can come to a critique of this butter with respect to appearance is that the color might not be as golden yellow as its more renowned grass-fed counterpart.

In terms of taste, Finlandia Imported Salted Butter does not disappoint. This butter has a very “dairy-first” flavor profile that is best appreciated when using to make eggs for breakfast. The body and texture is just as rich and creamy as a grain-fed butter. The flavor does have grassy notes, but this is definitely in the background. A half tablespoon of this butter, when melted over low-to-moderate heat, does such a wonderful job lubricating fresh cracked eggs that you could use a regular pan to fry the eggs with no sticking. This is a testament to the quality of the butter. The butter performs equally well as a spread for any toasted carrier (toast, muffins, bread, etc.). Both the salt level and texture are very satisfying.

Finlandia Imported Salted Butter is priced at a tremendous value. This butter, despite the fact that it is imported and high in quality, is only priced slightly above many domestic butter brands. This butter was priced below $4 for an eight ounce brick. The butter may be purchased at Meijer and Jewel Osco stores.

We understand why Finlandia chose provenance over process. This is a great tasting butter that happens to be a grass-fed, non-GMO, and artificial hormone-free butter. Finlandia Imported Salted Butter is one of the best grass-fed butters on the market which is why we rated the “World’s Happiest Butter” three Jersey cows.

Key Takeaway

Auric Goldfinger might have targeted Finland instead of Fort Knox had he tasted a butter so well-deserving of its “gold bedding.” In that scenario, he likely would have ended up choosing world peace over world domination. Apparently, Nordics have discovered the formula for happiness and it starts with happy cows and ends with Finlandia Imported Salted Butter.

We do not receive any form of compensation for our reviews by any of the butter brands we feature. The views expressed in our blog are solely based on our own opinions.