The producers of 2023’s biggest box office hit, Barbie, are among the backers of a new ‘disruptive butter brand’ from celebrity chef Thomas Straker and his best friend from school Toby Hopkinson, from Bolton.
All Things Butter has secured pre-seed funding of over £530,000 ahead of its launch in November.
The organic butter brand aims to “disrupt the traditional, heritage-led dairy industry with the first chef-led approach” that introduces a flavour range, puts British farming at the forefront, and donates 1% of revenue to support the British agricultural industry. The pre-seed funding round was led by co-founder Hopkinson and advisor Gavin Youll.
Investors include Josey McNarma and Thomas Ackerley, who co-founded Barbie, I, Tonya and Birds of Prey producer Lucky Chap Entertainment alongside Margot Robbie, and serial investor in consumer brands Adam Levene.
The funds raised will be used for working capital as the brand enters the UK market, and to make some key additions to the brand’s fast growing team, with a number of new hires already underway.
Straker and Hopkinson have created All Things Butter to showcase how great butter can elevate everyday dishes, whilst highlighting the simple ingredient’s versatility to consumers. They have teamed up with Brue Valley Farm in Somerset, who still use traditional butter making methods like twice churning the butter for the perfect texture, and extra creaminess.
Straker is a celebrity chef with a growing social following of over 4 million. His viral social series ‘All Things Butter,’ where the chef explored the unique ways to enhance recipes using the simple ingredient of butter, saw the brand’s Instagram account @allthingsbutter_ become the most followed dairy brand on social accounts even before the product lands on shelves.
The chef also currently heads up Notting Hill hotspot Straker’s, and has recently launched Flat Bread within Battersea Power Station’s Arcade Food Hall.
Co-founder Hopkinson holds a wealth of experience within high growth startups, including a previous role as head of growth at CBD drink brand TRIP, the fastest growing soft drinks brand in the UK.
Hopkinson said: “We are thrilled to introduce All Things Butter later this year and highlight the incredible versatility of our butter. With retail listings confirmed for November and some fantastic investors onboard, All Things Butter has an exciting time ahead. We have spent day and night perfecting our fresh flavour formulas and can’t wait for our product to hit the shelves and the hands of consumers. Watch this space!”
The first All Things Butter products will launch in November through the brand’s D2C platform and national retail supermarket listings – follow the brand’s socials for the latest.
[* This updates an original article which said that Thomas Straker is from Bolton. His PR team have advised us that he’s not. His best friend Toby is though. Straker is from Hereford. Which isn’t Bolton. It’s not even a palindrome – we throw that one in for Monty Python fans.]
