Be Better My Friend
Be Better My Friend is launching Be Better – the world’s first plant-based butter 100% designed for pastry professionals – in the UK.
Top chefs to have endorsed Be Better include Philip Khoury, pastry chef at world-famous department store Harrods, and Jordi Roca from El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain, former winner of the World’s Best Pastry Chef Award and twice winner of World’s Best Restaurant Award.
Be Better contains a blend of vegetable oils and fats (shea, organic coconut, rapeseed), which together mimic the melting behaviour of dairy butter.
It is free from allergens, hydrogenated fats, palm oil, artificial colours or flavours, and GMOs, and is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
A sustainable alternative to dairy butter, Be Better also uses 79% less CO2 and 86% less H20 than dairy butter – significant savings that have been carefully calculated and confirmed by Eaternity, a Swiss agency that specialises in measuring the environmental footprint of food products. There is also no damage to the rainforest involved in its manufacture.
”It’s time to rethink pastry as we know it,” said co-founder Marike van Beurden.
“We no longer have to solely rely on dairy butter to create amazing tasting pastry applications. There is now a highly credible alternative.
“As Be Better is a direct replacement for dairy butter, we make it easy for chefs to craft high quality pastry which in addition is better for the planet, for animal welfare and for their monthly budget.”
The launch is also timeously good news for an industry being severely hit by rising energy costs, as Be Better plant butter is 30-40% cheaper than dairy butter, meaning considerable cost savings for pastry professionals.
The product has a neutral taste, which enables chefs to bring the flavours they want to highlight, like chocolate and fruit, which are sometimes hidden due to the strong flavour presence of dairy butter.
“Be Better respects each of the ingredients a chef has carefully selected,” added Van Beurden.
“With the unique character of our plant butter, we’ve created an ideal flavour transporter. It also offers a similar, rich ‘mouthfeel’, but it is fresher, lighter and less fatty than its dairy counterpart. This is a crucial benefit and a big differentiator from other plant-based butters.”
Be Better My Friend is the Dutch-based company set up by pastry chef Marike van Beurden, food scientist Pere Castells and global food strategist Joost Lindeman. They share a vision to cease pastry’s dependency on animal-derived ingredients by crafting delicious plant-based alternatives and revolutionising the industry.
Their first product plant butter is currently available in nine countries: UK, Germany, France, Spain, The Netherlands, Hungary, Greece, Australia and Singapore and is expanding as its reputation grows.
