First seaweed and Sea Salt butter launched by Abernethy

Abernethy Butter, Northern Ireland's specialist in handmade and rolled butters, has launched a unique product using native seaweed, Dulse, and sea salt.

The new Dulse and Sea Salt butter joins the award winning company's portfolio of traditional hand crafted butter and a lightly smoked butter, the latter launched last year by Will and Allison Abernethy, the husband and wife team behind the innovative butter business.

Allison Abernethy, commenting on the new butter, says: "What led us to consider blending our tradutional butter with dulse and sea salt is the research showing the health benefits of natural seaweed. We have a rich resource of seaweeds around our coastline including dulse which is dried and been used for generations here as a healthy snack or as an ingredient for other foods.

"We sourced the seaweed from a local supplier, Irish Seaweeds in Belfast, and began mixing it with butter and sea salt earlier in the year until we found a blend that we enjoyed on scones, toast, other breads and meats. It's also ideal for cooking and is totally natural and free from additives. Taste tastes of the new butter have also been very positive.

"The new dulse and seasalt butter is now available in 100g hand rolled packs at a recommended retail price of £1.75. We are rolling it out to delis and to the chefs we currently supply in the UK and Republic of Ireland."

Dulse - Palmaria palmata - is a cold water algae species that is found in the middle to lower shore in many parts of Europe and the North Atlantic coasts of America. Research has found that seaweed is rich in antioxidants, calcium, iodine and vitamins,

Abernethy Butter was formed in 2005 by Will and Allison Abernethy to help preserve the tradition of handmade butters in Northern Ireland. The company, which also produces a dairy fudge, has won accolades from organisations such as the UK Guild of Fine Food for its butter and fudge.

In addition to leading delis, the company currently supplies handmade butter to leading chefs such as Heston Blumenthal and Marcus Wareing in Britain and Michael Deane in Northern Ireland.