Bothy Butter Churns Up Five-Fold Growth
New One SeedPod Home in Aberdeen
Bothy Butter, the Scottish premium butter brand has moved production to Scotland's food and drink innovation hub ONE SeedPod in Aberdeen, increasing capacity five-fold as it grows to meet demand from consumers, farm shops, delis, chefs and premium hospitality venues.
For founder Kim Cameron, there is also a personal tie to the Aberdeen relocation. She grew up delivering meat and produce across the city with her father, Peter Cameron, a Gordon highlander from Rosemount who ran a butcher’s shop in Aberdeen, supplying restaurants throughout the city’s hospitality trade. Her uncle, Gerry Cameron, managed the Marcliffe Hotel.
The new site allows Bothy Butter, the only butter producer in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Dundee and Angus, to run 100L batches up from 20L, while still allowing the product to be traditionally churned and hand crafted.
Bothy Butter already supplies significant food service providers across the UK, and the extra capacity is designed to open the brand up to food service at scale, an area where Scottish producers currently compete against a market dominated by French and Irish butter.
Bothy Butter was born from a centuries-old tradition of Angus butter. North Street Dairy operated for 104 years, less than a mile from Forfar’s historic butter market. When the dairy closed, Kim Cameron bought its original butter churn, working closely with Hamish, who had run it for years. Kim carried the recipe and know-how across into what has become Bothy Butter today, taking what could easily have disappeared and building it into a growing national brand.
Kim Cameron is best known for founding Gin Bothy, which she has developed into lifestyle brand Bothy Trading, now including Jam Bothy, Hipflask Spirits, The Bothy Experience in Glamis and Bothy Distillery in Glen Prosen as part of the portfolio of brands.
Kim Cameron said: “We’ve gone from 20 litre batches to 100 litres. The move to ONE SeedPod is a deliberate step to give the brand room to scale within a purpose-built dairy environment.
“We want to be able to stand proud behind our ethos of Buy Bothy, Buy Scottish, which we can absolutely do here as we stay true to creating a hand-crafted product with just two ingredients, Scottish cream and salt.”
Bothy Butter is available now in 20g medallions, 200g butter logs and 1kg catering blocks through farm shops, delis and foodservice suppliers across Scotland and beyond, with distribution continuing to expand from the new Aberdeen site.
The expansion has already created two new roles at the Aberdeen site, filled by former members of staff from Donald Russell, the well-known Aberdeenshire butchery brand that recently went into liquidation, bringing years of food industry experience into the Bothy Butter team.
Bothy Butter expects to make further hires as production continues to scale through the rest of the year, tapping into a skilled north east workforce.
Kim Cameron added: “Aberdeen is in my family’s blood. I was brought up delivering with my dad, who had a butcher’s shop, in and out of hotel kitchens right across the city, and my uncle Gerry Cameron managed the Marcliffe. I know every back street. Bringing butter production to Aberdeen, somewhere my dad loved, feels like coming home, and there’s something special about knowing Bothy Butter could be on your butteries the next morning.”
Director of ONE Food & Drink Alan Thorpe said: "We're delighted to welcome Kim and the Bothy Butter team to ONE SeedPod. They're now part of the entrepreneurial community here, alongside other food and drink businesses scaling up in the north east of Scotland. Going from 20-litre to 100-litre batches without losing the hand-crafted process is a real step up, and exactly the ambition that ONE SeedPod's food-safe manufacturing kitchens and wraparound support were built to enable.
"It's already meant two new jobs in Aberdeen, and it puts Bothy Butter in a much stronger position to win food service business in a market that's long been dominated by French and Irish butter."
The brand is also building local collaborations around the new site. Buttermilk, a byproduct of the churning process, is now being purchased by The Bread Guys, an Aberdeen bakery with four shops, for use in its bread, part of Bothy Butter’s wider commitment to sustainable, zero-waste production.
For more information visit https://bothybutter.co.uk/
