Artisanal ghee is surprising new health-food trend across North America

O.M.Ghee”, “Ghee Whiz”, tease the headlines. “You’re probably like, ‘What is it? Is the “H” silent’?” goes the promotional video on the website of a major US dairy company, before explaining the product to consumers. “Ghee tastes like butter, but better,” is #5 on a list of “10 Reasons Why You Should Use Ghee”, according to a Canadian ghee brand. “Ghee is for everyone,” declares a Los Angeles-based artisanal ghee-maker.

A few years ago, the phrase “artisanal ghee-maker” would have prompted a blank stare or a double take. Now, a rapidly growing market across North America is attracting consumers and entrepreneurs alike to the discovery of a product that has long been a staple of kitchens all over India. Ghee is being sold as a cooking oil, spread for toast, drizzle for popcorn and creamer for coffee among other uses. But this is not just your grandmother’s shuddh desi ghee. The market is dominated by organic gourmet ghees aimed at customers eyeing ghee as a healthy, sustainable choice.

Pure Indian Foods’ ghee creamer for coffee. Courtesy: Organic Valley

Just as yoga was adopted many years ago and soon spawned a local industry of yoga schools, $100 yoga mats and $150 yoga pants, American and Canadian ghee-makers are infusing a dash of creativity, local and exotic flavours, and a healthy marketing buzz into ghee. Los Angeles-based 4th & Heart’s flavoured ghees include Madagascar Vanilla Bean and Himalayan Pink Salt, as well as chocolate ghee spreads. Farmtrue in Connecticut sells Vanilla Maple Chai and Garlic Scape flavoured ghee and recently introduced Maple Walnut and Cashew Coconut ghee-nut butters. Pure Indian Foods, an Indian-American-owned brand based in Princeton, New Jersey, sells a range of flavoured ghees including Italian, Herbes de Provence and Niter Kebbeh, which is infused with Ethiopian spices. Lee’s Ghee, a Canadian brand, offers the turmeric-infused Gold Standard, the Middle Eastern-flavoured Za’atar Star and, of course, Great Maple. A recent report in The Washington Post listed flavoured ghees as a standout category at this summer’s Fancy Food Show in New York, the premier trade event for food products.

Farmtrue has flavours like Vanilla Maple Chai and Garlic Scape. Courtesy: Organic Valley

While the interest in ghee started with foodie entrepreneurs stirring up small batches for local farmers’ markets, ghee is now available in thousands of stores across the US and Canada, not counting Indian grocery stores. It is also going mainstream thanks to Organic Valley, a $1-billion dairy and farmer co-operative with over 2,000 members across 36 states in the US. Organic Valley, which is headquartered in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin, considered America’s dairy capital, opened a new production facility for ghee last year, which expanded its capacity ten-fold in order to meet the surging demand.  

More flavoured ghees from Pure Indian Foods. Courtesy: Organic Valley

“The market’s growing 40-50 per cent a year, it’s crazy,” says Andrew Westrich, brand manager for ghee at Organic Valley. “It will level off at some point, but when half the population still has no idea what this is, we think there’s great potential upside. I don’t see why it couldn’t easily double,” he adds, noting ghee still accounts for only 10-15 per cent of Organic Valley’s butter business at present. While there are few statistics for the nascent ghee market, Westrich estimates it’s a $30-million business annually in the US, of which his brand has a dominant 60-per cent share.

Organic Valley’s plain ghees are the market leader. Courtesy: Organic Valley

Raquel Tavares, founder of 4th & Heart, says the proprietary data she subscribes to places her ghee brand second behind Organic Valley, with over a quarter of the US market. Year-on-year growth of 150 per cent over the last couple of years has taken her ghee to 7,000 stores across the US. “We face challenges in being able to make just enough product,” says Tavares, who points out that her ghee is made through a cooking process that ensures a caramelised flavour, and not in a centrifuge. The five-year-old Farmtrue built its own ghee production facility last year, tripling its output.

In Canada, Lee Capatina, a former model and Toronto-based founder of Lee’s Ghee, went on the business reality television show Dragon’s Den and snagged funding from an investor that helped her ramp up production in Quebec and get nationwide distribution.

4th & Heart’s flavoured ghee and single-use Ghee-on-the-Go pack. Courtesy: Organic Valley

Surprisingly enough, given all the negative perception of fats in the past, it’s the consumers interested in healthy eating, as well as yoga and Ayurveda, who are driving the demand for ghee. Popular regimens like the Whole30, keto and paleo diets have endorsed it as a healthy fat. As Kim Welch, a co-founder of Farmtrue says, “Our biggest followers are health-seekers, people who are looking to improve their digestive health, increase the amount of good fats that they have in their diets and overall just eat really clean and sustainable.” Capatina adds, “A lot of people can’t digest dairy or they’re cutting out dairy for health reasons. So ghee is a good alternative because the lactose and milk protein is removed, and it’s easy to digest.”

Westrich agrees that the “free-from” movement is one of the reasons for the growing popularity of ghee. “It’s folks that are looking to go gluten-free, lactose-free, GMO-free, peanut-free, egg-free, sugar-free… Ghee is lactose-free and casein-free just by the nature of the production process. So folks can have the benefits of pasture-raised, grass-fed dairy without the side effects of lactose or casein,” he says.

4th & Heart’s flavoured ghee and single-use Ghee-on-the-Go pack. Courtesy: Organic Valley4th & Heart’s flavoured ghee and single-use Ghee-on-the-Go pack. Courtesy: Organic Valley

Most ghee companies have detailed explanations of the benefits of ghee on their websites, such as its high smoke point, shelf stability, and its role in reducing inflammation, improving digestion and as a source of several key vitamins. They also refer to mentions of ghee and its uses in Ayurvedic texts.

It’s about time that ghee got its spotlight, according to Sandeep Agarwal, who quit a career in the IT industry to start Pure Indian Foods with his wife Nalini ten years ago. “People are sick of the fake science that was propagated for the last 70 years that fat was bad for you, and that butter and full fat milk will increase cholesterol and heart disease. It was propagated by the vegetable oil industry,” he says. Agarwal, whose family has run a small ghee business in Haryana for many generations, says he often has to work harder at convincing fellow Indian Americans of the benefits of ghee.

(Left) Raquel Tavares Founder of 4th & Heart. (Right) Lee Capatina Founder of Lee’s Ghee

For now, the growing market for ghee in the US and Canada is largely driven by non-Indian, health-conscious customers, willing to pay premium prices for “organic”, “grass-fed” or “pasture-raised” products. Pure Indian Foods sells its 398-gram jar of plain, grass-fed, organic ghee for $17.95, while the same sized jar of traditional Pure Desi Ghee from Nanak Foods, commonly available at Indian grocery stores, retails for only $7.99.

From a handful of entrepreneurs, the US and Canada now boast of hundreds of ghee-makers. And more are joining the bandwagon, cooking up new recipes to use ghee, new flavours and variants like single-use Ghee-on-the-Go packs. Welcome to the world of videsi ghee.