Butter spreads out; Inbrief.

A Great British Butter advertising campaign fronted by former Sex Pistol John Lydon has given Country Life the edge over rival Anchor for the first time, the brand's owner Dairy Crest claimed yesterday.

The company, which also sells Cathedral City cheese and Frijj flavoured milk, said Country Life was the UK's fastest growing butter brand and had overtaken Anchor in terms of value of market share.

Dairy Crest said all five of its key brands continued to perform well after benefiting from high levels of advertising and promotional spend. It added that Cathedral City remained larger than the next three cheddar brands combined, while St Hubert Omega 3 spread continued to gain market share and Clover had increased its slice of the butter, spreads and margarine market. Dairy Crest said Frijj continued to go from "strength to strength" and now held more than half the total flavoured fresh milk category.