Why can’t ‘ROOMBETER’ be used as a name for vegetable butter?

In early 2023, Upfield marketed a pure vegetable alternative to cream butter under the name ‘ROOMBETER’. The Dutch Dairy Association rightly objected to this name, the Central Netherlands District Court ruled at the end of July 2024. Because of European rules for dairy designations, terms such as ‘milk’, ‘cheese’, ‘butter’ and ‘cream’ may only be used for dairy products and not for vegetable alternatives. In this article, you can read more about these European regulations and ways to get around them.

European regulations

According to European regulations (Art. 78 paragraph CMO Regulation, Annex VII, Part III, point 5), terms such as ‘cream’ and ‘butter’ may only be used for dairy products. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) gave a strict interpretation of the aforementioned provision in 2017. The CJEU ruled that reserved dairy designations may in principle not be used to designate purely vegetable products. This also applies when these designations are supplemented with clarifying or descriptive additions indicating the vegetable origin of the product, both in sales and advertising.

The District Court of Midden-Nederland

Upfield’s use of the product name ‘ROOMBETER’ is not permitted to market a purely vegetable product, according to the preliminary relief judge. The use of the reserved dairy designation ‘cream’ may only be used to indicate dairy products. This does not become different by the addition ‘-better’, according to the preliminary relief judge.

So what is and is not permitted?

Still, companies offering plant-based products are free to compete with companies offering animal versions. For example, companies are allowed to state on the product’s packaging that it is a 100% plant-based alternative to cream butter and promote it as better for the climate. However, the product name of a non-dairy product may not contain any reference to dairy designations.

Questions?

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