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I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! is a brand of margarine,[2][3] produced by Flora Food Group[4] and marketed as a substitute for butter.[2]

History

The J.H. Filbert company, based in Baltimore, Maryland, US developed the product in 1979 as a low-cost alternative to butter for the food service industry.[5] The name originated from a comment by the husband of a company secretary as he sampled the product and it was first marketed to retail consumers in 1981.[1][5] The company was acquired by Unilever in 1986, which then expanded sales of the product, previously only available primarily in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area, throughout the entire United States in 1988 and later to the United Kingdom, Canada and Mexico in 1991.[6][7][8][9] The product was put on the market in Germany in 2011 and in Chile in 2012.

In 2018, Unilever sold its margarine and spreads business, which included the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! brand, to investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) for US$8.04 billion.[10]

Fabio has been the brand's celebrity spokesman since 1994, appearing in many of the brand's commercials, usually with his only line of dialogue being the brand name.[11]

Varieties

In addition to a regular and "light" spread, Unilever also uses the brand name to market a liquid butter substitute contained in a spray-bottle.[12] This product is an emulsion of vegetable oil in water formulated with a "hint" of butter flavor (derived from buttermilk) and is marketed as having zero calories and zero fat content.[13] In 2017, Unilever announced two new varieties, "It's Vegan" and "It's Organic".[14]

Consumer sales

United States

It was reported in July 2005 (per research from the market research company Information Resources) that the product at that time led in product sales for its category of margarines, butter blends and spreads, with sales revenue standing at US $244.7 million,[12] summarized from 52 weeks up to July 10, 2005.[12]

But by 2012, the situation had changed. It was reported in 2012 by Euromonitor International that while sales of butter and spreadable oil fell, margarine sales increased by 1.1 percent, but sales of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter fell by 3.9 percent. 7 percent of sales at Unilever consists of spreads, with a significant amount consisting of butter substitutes, the sales of which are on the decline.[15]

In 2016, there were $248.4 million in sales of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and $47.7 million of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light.[16]

UK rebranding

In January 2017, Unilever rebranded the product as "I Can't Believe It's So Good... For Everything!" in the UK. The stated objective was to increase awareness of the product's versatility. The rebrand was greeted with puzzlement and some derision by many media commentators.[17] Subsequently, the branding was simplified to "I Can't Believe It's So Good...". The brand was returned to its original form in November 2019.[18]

See also

External links

References

  1. Lazarus, George (June 1, 1981). "Filbert can't believe you won't like its new butter blend". Chicago Tribune. ("Filbert has moved into the Syracuse, Albany, and Pittsburgh markets with a one-pound blend called "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter."")^
  2. Calvani Terry. Antitrust Law Journal, 1989, "Advertising Regulation: The States v. FTC. "...a nationally distributed butter substitute, 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.'")^
  3. Cerklewski, F.L. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 2005, "Calcium fortification of food can add unneeded dietary phosphorus". "...and butter substitute (I Can't Believe It's Not Butter..."^
  4. Our Brands – Upfield www.upfield.com, retrieved 29 August 2018^
  5. Unilever Corporate History Unilever, retrieved March 27, 2014^
  6. Wyman, Carolyn (2004). Better Than Homemade: Amazing Foods That Changed The Way We Eat. Quirk Books. pp.50-52. ISBN 1931686424^
  7. I can't believe it's not Butter! Unilever(United Kingdom), retrieved April 30, 2012^
  8. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Unilever (Canada), retrieved April 30, 2012^
  9. Jones, Geoffrey (2005). Renewing Unilever: Transformation and Tradition. Oxford University Press. pp. 102-03. ISBN 0199269432^
  10. Ed Devlin. KKR snaps up Unilever spreads division for £6bn The Grocer, retrieved 2025-12-02^
  11. Watch Fabio Get Freaky With Food www.yahoo.com, retrieved 2021-11-28^
  12. Elliott, Stuart. I Can't Believe It's Not a TV Ad! The New York Times, July 26, 2005, retrieved April 29, 2012^
  13. Amanda MacMillan. Better: Butter-substitute sprays Health Magazine, retrieved April 2, 2014^
  14. Vegan ICBIN US, retrieved 2022-03-30^
  15. Margarine : Unilever can't believe it's not selling Bloomberg, July 31, 2013, retrieved 29 July 2016^
  16. Sales leading margarine/spreads brands U.S. 2016 Statista, retrieved 2016-07-29^
  17. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter is getting a new name - and it's even longer Daily Mirror, 2017-01-21^
  18. Upfield relaunches I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, adds new variant Foodbev Media, retrieved 2020-03-01^