Which is the best Kiwi-made craft peanut butter?

Meat, diary, and … peanut butter? If you’ve stepped foot in a supermarket in the last few years, you’ll notice Kiwis are something of a stand out on the spreads shelves.

Aotearoa’s homemade craft peanut butters have exploded in popularity over the years, with gourmet mixes and nuts of all types popping up here, there, and everywhere, and overseas recognition to boot.

Judging off of a criteria based on texture, spread-ability, appearance, and flavour, we compared the crunchy peanut butters of New Zealand’s best-known grassroots nut butter brands – Forty Thieves, Fix & Fogg, Pic’s, and Nut Brothers – to finally put an end to the “Who’s Best?” debate of our national butters.

Fourth place: Nut Brothers

Founded in 2014 by a trio of nut-obsessed dads, Auckland’s Nut Brothers offers a 500g jar of Super Crunch Peanut Butter, slightly salted.

Despite a great taste with a delicious blend of sweet and roasted, the thick consistency of the butter is responsible for its last place ranking.

On toast, Nut Brothers was the hardest to spread and appeared drier and cakier than other butters tested.

The thickness also meant a bite of the butter on bread was more of a mushy mouthful than hoped, leaving Nut Brother’s Super Crunch Peanut Butter to take last place in our ranking.

Third place: Pic’s

Since launching at the Nelson Friday Farmer’s Market in 2007, Pic’s has become a household name in New Zealand while also forging out a place in overseas markets.

Perhaps we have the ingenuity of Pic’s founder Pic Picot to blame (or thank?) for the wide variety of Kiwi-made artisan peanut butters we see on our shelves today – so, you ask, why hasn’t the originator taken out the top spot?

Texture-wise, Pic’s crunchy peanut butter was the oiliest and creamiest, meaning the spread-ability was top tier, the easiest of all the entries in this list to smooth over a piece of toast.

Where Pic’s lacks, however, is the taste: the sweetness of Pic’s could be a winner for some, but those looking for a flavourful peanut butter, the brand falls short of others where a full roasted taste is at the forefront.

For a crunchy peanut butter, Pic’s also stays on the safer side – there’s not an overwhelming amount of crunch, but compared to the offerings of Fix & Fogg and Forty Thieves, Pic’s leaves a little to be desired for those who enjoy a truly crunchy nut butter.

Second place: Forty Thieves

Hailing from the Hibiscus Coast, Forty Thieves is the brainchild of Shyr Gelber and Brent Godfrey, and a consistent competitor in the Outstanding Food Producer Awards NZ.

Their crunchy peanut butter packs a punch, the roast of the peanuts hitting the taste buds beautifully without an overpowering sweetness or saltiness.

In consistency, Forty Thieves was near perfect – not too oily, and just thick enough to make every mouthful a comfortable eating experience.

Worth mentioning as well is Forty Thieves’ branding: while both Nut Brothers and Fix & Fogg have opted for more subtle labels, Forty Thieves offers something different with bright and fun imagery that stands out best of all the butters on the supermarket shelves.

First place: Fix & Fogg

Fix & Fogg founders Roman and Andrea Jewell have been running this family business since 2013, and have made some recent waves in the US market.

This Wellington-born brand is our top pick amongst NZ’s homemade nut butters for a number of reasons including the impeccable flavour from the peanut’s roast, which hits immediately and leaves a pleasant aftertaste.

The peanut pieces in Fix & Fogg are perfectly sized as well, especially compared to the oversized offering of Nut Brothers and undersized in Pic’s, leaving a great texture for both spreading and eating.

You’ve read it here first: perfectly buttery while maintaining a lovely roast flavour, Fix and Fogg is our nation’s best local nut butter offering.