After seven months of selling handcrafted butter at farmers markets across the Valley, Arizona Churn Culture is getting ready to open what its founders say will be Arizona’s first dedicated butter shop. The Mesa store is expected to open in late August or early September at 1235 S. Gilbert Road, Suite 12.
Bill and Melissa Prystash spent years visiting Valley farmers markets before realizing one thing had been missing: locally made butter. They decided to fill that gap themselves.
Melissa’s passion for healthy living and high-quality ingredients helped shape the business, and after leaving a 19-year career in the healthcare industry, she joined Arizona Churn Culture full time. Today, she oversees operations and ingredient sourcing while Bill, who previously worked in sales and launched several businesses, leads butter production.
Arizona Churn Culture produces organic, pasture-raised, grass-fed butter in small batches using nonhomogenized cream and packages it in PFAS-free glass jars.
“We use organic, grass-fed, pasteurized cream that’s nonhomogenized. It’s low-temperature pasteurized, so it maintains all of those good nutrients it’s supposed to. And we work this butter by hand. So once it’s done churning in our small little churn, we remove it by hand from the buttermilk, and it never sees a machine again,” Bill told What Now Phoenix.
The new shop will give customers a chance to see that process firsthand while introducing experiences beyond the company’s farmers market booths.
“I really just want to create a place for the community where they can come and connect with their food. They can see it being produced. Our facility in Mesa will be licensed by the Arizona Department of Agriculture for butter manufacturing, so people can come in, throw a hairnet on, and come to the production space and actually see how we’re making the butter.”
Arizona Churn Culture currently sells its butter at farmers markets across the Valley and through a growing number of local retailers. The Mesa location will be the company’s first permanent storefront. In addition to exclusive flavors, the shop will host butter-making classes and private tastings featuring local bakers.
Additional details about the grand opening will be shared on Arizona Churn Culture’s Instagram page as the opening approaches.
