St. Brigid’s: A whole new outlook on butter

For this family farm, there’s no butter way to run a dairy operation than with Jersey cows.

Meet the van Nes Family

Nestled into Ontario’s West Coast in Huron County, you’ll find St. Brigid’s. This family-run dairy operation is owned by the van Nes Family who have been farming Holstein cows for many generations- first in Holland and the last three generations here in Canada. The last of these 3 generations is changing things up a bit.

Bill now runs his dairy farm near Brussels and he’s shaking things up as he starts a new adventure churning fresh butter with cream from his Jersey cows. 

As Bill learned, sometimes it’s the biggest changes that bring you back to your roots and for him, that means a butter closer to what his Opa would have enjoyed.

Passion-Based Practice

Bill’s goal was to create butter that was more flavourful, creamier and less processed than what you find on your typical grocery store shelf For him, that meant starting with Jersey cows.

You might ask yourself- why Jerseys? Well for starters, Jerseys produce higher fat content. Creating a single-source butter with only their own cream, the van Nes family knows exactly what goes into every stick and block of butter. On top of that, the butter is creamier and richer in colour- the result of an 84% butterfat content. 

In addition to single-source cream, St. Brigid’s Jersey herd is A2/A2,  and grass-fed to produce a tastier and easier-to-digest butter. They have their organic certification, are animal welfare approved by A Greener World, and are working under a holistic management framework and towards a stringent set of regenerative practices that will help the farm continue to improve its environmental impact.

After the milk is separated and the cream is collected, it’s sent to Alliston Creamery where it’s barrel-churned into its delicious butter, and for the salted version, Canadian sea salt from Vancouver Island is added. Yum! 

The Flavour & Getting Your Hands (and teeth) on Some

So, what’s the best part of this operation? According to Marketing Manager, Guillermo Anderson, it’s all about seeing the look on somebody’s face when they taste the butter for the first time. 

“We know it’s a more expensive butter, but we think it makes for the perfect butter for special occasions- that special treat you reach for once in a while.” It’s also important to note that because of its flavour, you don’t need as much as your typical spread (although stopping yourself might be hard). In fact, Guillermo recommends spreading enough on that you can see your teeth marks in it. We tend to agree.

Want to get your hands on a block or two? You can see a Google Map of where to purchase your butter as well as a list of delivery services bringing St. Brigid’s across the province on their website. 

Happy munching!