Plaquette’s ‘candy’ butters are named as such due to being packed in bite-sized portions as though these were candies, but these could be either sweet or savoury flavours such as the firm’s unique seaweed, chimichurri or truffle butters.
“We won the Gulfood award for the candy butters for two major reasons: The innovative packaging format that allows consumers to finish an entire portion with no wastage; and the sustainability factors behind its creation,” Plaquette Founder Lionel Plaquette told us at the Gulfood 2026 show in Dubai.
“Each portion of butter is hand-packed by workers, including handicapped individuals, providing them with meaningful employment and allows us to make a stronger social and sustainability impact that helps our society.”
Plaquette’s butter products took two of the eight finalist spots in this year’s Gulfood Innovation Awards, with the other finalist being its Emirate Flag butter which comprises four different flavours that are packed into the shape of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) flag.
These are: Chilli pepper (red), jalapenos (green) salted (white) and truffle (black).
Importantly, the small-sized packs allow consumers the bandwidth to try a wider range of butter flavours than they normally could without wastage, a concept dear to Plaquette’s heart as flavour innovation is a major undertaking for the firm despite its specialisation in only butter.
“Truffle butter is the most popular in most markets due to its fragrance and we have made ours very premium by using real truffles and truffle oil, none of that artificial fragrance,” he added.
“We have also been told that our seaweed butter is highly addictive, combining black, red and green seaweed flakes in it to give the butter a flavour of the sea.”
Plaquette has over 25 different savoury flavours and 20 sweet flavours in its portfolio.
The personalisation of butter
The firm mainly targets mainly premium B2B and B2C consumers, with existing presence across Europe and Asian markets – and as the market for premium products grows, Plaquette has noticed an increasing demand for customisation in their orders.
“People are definitely looking for better products, and we also receive a lot of special requests to personalise or customise the butters, either by hotels or premium consumers or others who have specific needs,” he said.
“For instance, we often get questions about the origin of the milk used to make the butter, especially by European B2B clients, and once we get such queries we have the flexibility to source from different origins to ensure that the ingredients meet the client’s demands. This extends to the source of any seaweed or truffle or salt that is used in making the butter.”
Plaquette was previously a farmer, and believes that this experience allows him a big advantage in sourcing the right milk and other ingredients when special requests are made.
Some personalisation requests have made the cut to become staples in Plaquette’s portfolio, such as the Chimichurri butter made to give Brazillian consumers a taste of home; the Emirates flag butter that was shortlisted for the Gulfood Innovation Award; and his popular Shallot and Tarragon butter that was made as a stand-in for bearnaise sauce.
