Forget about everything being fine: the prices for the popular spread are rising and rising. At Christmas, butter could be more expensive than ever before!
Currently, consumers in discount stores and supermarkets pay a whopping €2.09 for 250 grams of branded butter. There is no end in sight to the price spiral.
Record prices for butter at the end of the year
“That will certainly not be the end. We will probably see new record prices by the end of the year,” said Hans-Jürgen Seufferlein, managing director of the Bavarian Milk Producers’ Association, to the “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung”. The previous record for butter prices was 2.29 euros in autumn 2022. By August 2023, the price had fallen to 1.39 euros – and has risen again since then.
The reasons for the butter price boom are complex:
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▶︎ Increased production costs: The costs of feed, energy, fertilizer and transport have risen sharply in recent years. This particularly affects the dairy industry, which increases the production costs for milk and thus for butter.
▶︎ Weather conditions and animal health. Bluetongue disease is currently rampant in many regions. If the amount of milk falls, this leads to a lower supply of butter, which drives up prices.
▶︎ Energy prices have increased in many countries and since butter production is energy intensive, these higher costs have a direct impact on the final price.
▶︎ General price increases due to inflation as well as disruptions in global supply chains caused by the corona pandemic and Russia’s attack on Ukraine are contributing to the price increase.
▶︎ Demand for dairy products, especially butter, is stable or increasing worldwide. If supply does not keep pace with demand, prices will continue to rise.
Demand will continue to rise towards the end of the year. This means that the price of butter will continue to rise. Not a good prospect for Christmas.
