‘Look At This F-ing Cake’: Gordon Ramsay Embraces Vegan Butter in New Campaign with Flora
4 Mins Read
In its latest collaboration, Dutch vegan giant Flora Food Group has reeled in Gordon Ramsay to sing the praises of its flagship plant-based butter.
Gordon Ramsay has been railing against vegan food for a long time, but the Scottish celebrity chef seems to have mellowed in recent years and embraced a bit of plant-based cuisine.
The MasterChef US has teamed up with Amsterdam-based Flora Food Group (formerly Upfield) to promote its dairy-free butter range as part of the company’s Skip The Cow campaign.
The collaboration comes after Ramsay rigorously tested the vegan butter in a range of culinary applications, which led him to incorporate the product into his professional kitchen.
“From scrambled eggs to chocolate cake, I have put the product through its paces,” said the eight-Michelin-starred chef. “It gives me the creaminess and rich taste I get from butter, whilst being more sustainable.”
Gordon Ramsay makes homemade Flora to showcase clean label
The campaign has been launched in the UK and the Netherlands, and will roll out on TV globally. It features a 20-second spot where a narrator wonders whether the alt-butter – “made from ingredients that haven’t been through a cow” – works well in baking.
Susan the cow says yes, but the voiceover acknowledges she “could seem biased”. Then, the ad cuts to a wider shot of Ramsay sitting on a cow with a dairy-free chocolate cake in hand, as the narrator says: “Let’s ask an expert.”
The chef responds: “Is that a serious question? Just look at this f-ing cake.”
The Dutch company’s flagship Flora brand includes spreadable butters and the Plant B+tter range of block butters, which contain 10 ingredients, with a base of plant oils and faba bean protein. According to the company, they also have a 75% lower climate footprint than conventional butter.
To highlight the clean-label ingredients, Ramsay stars in a 15-second tutorial showcasing how people can make a version of Flora’s vegan butter at home. He combines plant oils, plant protein, carrot juice, lemon juice, water and salt with an immersion blender, before churning and chilling it in an ice-cream maker.
“This campaign represents a bold step forward in showcasing the incredible versatility and taste of Flora for cooking and baking,” said Jorn Socquet, chief marketing officer at Flora.
“Gordon’s passion for exceptional food aligns perfectly with our commitment to innovation and offering sustainable, plant-forward alternatives that don’t compromise on flavour or performance. And if Gordon Ramsay thinks it’s good, who the f%$k are we to disagree?” he added.
Flora hits on ‘critical megatrends’
Flora’s Skip the Cow campaign dates back to Veganuary 2023, when it launched a tongue-in-cheek video in the style of a food documentary. Later that year, the brand released out-of-home ads with copy saying: “We had this mad idea not to put the plants through a cow,” and “Farewell cow butter and thanks for the mammaries.”
The commercial drive won several plaudits in 2023, including Cannes Lion for Creative Strategy, an APG Gold Award for Creative Strategy, and a PETA Vegan Foods Award. And last year, it rolled out its Bit Weird commercial featuring Susan the cow, who nods yes to the narrator’s question: “Is it a bit weird we spent all those years pumping the plants through a cow?”
“The evolution of our award-winning Skip the Cow campaign, represents more than just a marketing initiative – it’s a testament to our leadership in responding to critical megatrends: growing demand for dairy-alternative solutions, increased focus on animal welfare, and the pressing need for environmentally conscious food choices,” said Flora CEO David Haines.
Getting Ramsay – a household name and one of the world’s greatest chefs – is a big deal for Flora, especially given his history of anti-vegan sentiment. It’s in line with his recent shift, though, with the Kitchen Nightmares host boosting his TikTok following with plant-based recipes during the pandemic, including a viral rice paper bacon.
On an episode of MasterChef: Back to Win in 2022, he admitted: “I actually love vegan food,” later crediting his kids for the realisation. Ramsay is also an investor and advisor in Borealis Foods, maker of Chef Woo Vegan Ramen, and last year commenced a partnership with Impossible Foods to put its plant-based meat on the menu of its Street Burger and Street Pizza chains in London.
“Gordon Ramsay’s decision to partner with us validates what millions of families around the world have known for generations – that our products deliver exceptional taste and performance while addressing crucial global challenges,” said Haines.
“This collaboration reflects our evolved purpose and our 150+ years of heritage in offering consumers compelling choices that are both more affordable and more sustainable than their dairy equivalents.”
The former Unilever subsidiary’s roots go back to 1871, but its latest iteration came after it was spun off as Upfield in 2018. The group then rebranded last September, a year after it announced its intention to transition to a fully plant-based lineup. Flora today owns brands like Violife, Bertolli, Country Crock, and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, and recorded €3.3B in net sales in 2023, gaining 55 million additional customers.
Plant-based dairy is becoming increasingly popular in the UK, with 35% of households now buying these products. In recent weeks, Mighty has added caramel and chocolate flavours to its oat milk powder range, MYOM has launched its powdered oat milk at Whole Foods Market, and fresh oat milk maker Oato has entered over 370 Sainsbury’s stores. Oatly, meanwhile, is now on the menu at all short-haul British Airways flights, as well as its EuroFlyer fleet, as a free swap for dairy.