This Country Makes All Of Costco's Kirkland Signature Grass-Fed Butter

You wouldn't expect to find one of the best grocery store butters in a warehouse freezer, but here we are. Kirkland Signature grass-fed butter has become a sleeper hit among Costco shoppers — and not just because of the price. It's rich, it's golden, and it comes with a backstory that starts roughly 7,000 miles away.

The butter is made in Hokitika, a small town on New Zealand's South Island, where Westland Milk Products sources from around 400 local farms. Their cows aren't penned up — they graze, and that grass makes all the difference when it comes to flavor. Costco introduced the product in 2021, but it didn't take off until later.



It was the butter that sent shockwaves through TikTok in 2023 — thanks to videos praising the butter's taste, highlighting its quality, and wondering how something that good came from Costco. Suddenly, what looked like a quiet rollout turned into a viral moment. While this butter might feel a little more premium, it's likely not one of the Costco groceries that are going to shoot up in price (we've compiled a list) .

You're getting the real thing — without paying extra just for a fancier label. From grass to churn, here's what makes it different Plenty of grocery items brag about being "grass-fed," but that label doesn't always mean what you think. In the U.

S., producers can use the term as long as they file the right paperwork with the USDA. The review doesn't even involve a site visit and only confirms what the animals were fed, not how they were raised or whether they were treated with hormones or antibiotics.

For stricter standards, you'd have to look for labels like "American Grassfed Approved," which come from independent groups rather than the government. By contrast, the butter you'll find at Costco comes from New Zealand, where dairy regulations are tighter across the board. The cows producing the milk for Kirkland Signature grass-fed butter are on a 95% grass-based diet, with a small portion of non-GMO grain making up the rest.

Hormones and GMOs are off the table — New Zealand doesn't allow either in its dairy farming. After the milk is collected, it's brought to Westland's facility on the South Island, where the cream is churned using the Fritz method — a more traditional process that helps preserve flavor and texture– before it ends up on a store shelf. Costco is your best bet when it comes to buying butter that's made with care at a decent price.

It's not necessarily trying to be a health food, but the omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid, and vitamin A don't hurt either..