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Farmers warn Woolworths' green-and-gold Hillview butter misleads consumers and undercuts Australian dairy

Australian dairy farmers warn Woolworths' green-and-gold Hillview butter misleads consumers, undercuts local producers, and risks jobs, as imported US butter competes with declining domestic dairy production.

By news@gippsland - 18th November 2025 - Back to News

Australian dairy farmers are concerned consumers are being misled by cheap American butter being sold in Woolworths supermarkets. The imported US butter is sold under the Hillview brand in the major supermarkets and packaged in green and gold. Exclusive to Woolworths in Australia, the butter has raised the ire of farmers and consumers, who have criticised it for its white colouring and bland flavour.

Australian dairy farmers warn Woolworths' Hillview butter, imported from the US and packaged in green and gold, misleads consumers and undermines local producers

Misleading butter concerns

Australian Dairy Farmers president Ben Bennett said, "It hardly even looks like butter, it's white and somewhat different, and we want to be genuine about the product that we have and where it comes from.

"[Woolworths] promote themselves as the 'fresh food people', and getting food from the other side of the world when we produce it here stretches the rubber band a little bit."

'Please explain, Woolies'

The supermarket's Hillview brand has angered farmers before. The product line uses the green and gold colours usually associated with the promotion of Australian-made or produced goods. It also sells imported cheese from New Zealand. "If you want a cheese sandwich, the only thing that Australia's contributing from one possible supermarket is the grain [from] the bread," Mr Bennett said. "Please explain, Woolies."

The Hillview butter is not the only imported butter sold in Australian supermarkets. But Mr Bennett said having Danish and Irish butter on the shelves was not as egregious as the American-made one because the origin was clearer in the packaging. "It's absolutely cheapening us. I want the consumer to be well informed because at the moment it is costing Australian farms and Australian workers their jobs," he said.

'Green rolling hills'

A Woolworths spokesperson said the company was a "strong and proud supporter of our Australian dairy industry" and all its dairy products had country of origin labelling. The supermarket confirmed it was using US butter in the Hillview brand, but the spokesperson said, "We're now again incorporating Australian-made butter into our value brands."

"All our fresh milk comes from Australian farmers, and the vast majority of our other dairy products, including butter and cheese, are sourced here too, it's not uncommon for imagery related to green rolling pastures to be used in the marketing of dairy products," the spokesperson said.

Dairy production down, imports up

Rabobank dairy analyst Michael Harvey said the Hillview butter spoke to a broader trend in Australian dairy production and imports. "We've got an industry that's contracted significantly over a long period of time, which just simply means there's less milk production in the industry."

"Less milk supply means more imports because we have got a domestic market that is still growing, so you do need more milk, and then it's about where you source that product from," he said.

Rising dairy imports

Mr Harvey said dairy imports were increasing steadily, mainly in manufactured products. "We import quite a lot of cheese, we import whey and milk powders and things like that, and more recently, increasingly more and more volume of butter," he said.

While Mr Harvey acknowledged the green and gold packaging was not good optics, he understood why supermarkets and consumers were looking for cheaper products.

"I'll leave it to the industry to debate around packaging, but from a pricing perspective, this comes down to the reality around the consumer market. The cost of dairy products are a lot higher than they were a couple of years ago across the board, which is tough for consumers," he said.

Pictures from ABC News (Australia) YouTube channel.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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