The price for a packet of butter climbs to well over two euros. Industry associations can imagine that the spreadable fat will become even more expensive.
The record price for butter set more than two years ago has been broken. As of this week, customers at supermarkets and discounters have been paying 2.39 euros for a 250-gram packet of own-brand German brand butter. “This is the highest price that has ever existed in Germany,” said Kerstin Keunecke, head of the dairy sector at Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (AMI) in Bonn.
Butter costs 10 cents more than in the summer of 2022, when the previous high was reached. The shelf prices for branded products are also currently higher than they were back then, as data from the price comparison portal Smhaggle shows.
The spokesman for the Federal Association of German Dairy Farmers (BDM), Hans Foldenauer, even believes it is possible that butter prices will continue to rise. A weak supply meets brisk demand due to the Christmas business. It is impossible to predict when prices will fall again. This depends on the development of the milk quantities delivered, the ingredients and the demand in the next few months, says Foldenauer.
Too little milk, too little fat
It has recently become apparent that butter is becoming more expensive. Industry associations commented accordingly at the end of August. The reasons for the price increase are therefore smaller quantities of milk supplied by farmers and a lower fat content in the raw milk. Due to high demand for other dairy products such as cheese, less fat was available for the production of butter, as the dairy industry association explained. In addition, significantly less butter was imported. The “Lebensmittel Zeitung” first reported on it.
Due to the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis, butter had already become increasingly more expensive over the course of 2022. The price for a pack of the own brands rose to an all-time high of 2.29 euros, and in the summer of 2023 it fell to 1.39 euros. Then he went up again. According to the Federal Statistical Office, consumers paid 41 percent more for butter in August 2024 than in 2020.
The number of dairy cows and dairy farms in Germany has been declining for years. In 2023 there were still 3.7 million animals and almost 50,600 businesses.
Source: Stern
