While inflation is falling, butter prices in Austria continue to rise. A pack of 250 grams recently cost 2.59 euros in local supermarkets. According to the forecast, the peak may not have been reached yet.
Due to the situation on the butter and milk fat market, further price increases may be necessary, according to food company Spar.
In Austria, butter prices are highly dependent on the international market, Spar emphasizes.
Milk fat is becoming scarce
With a self-sufficiency of approximately 75 percent, the Austrian market is dependent on imports. “The high international demand for milk fat influences the price in Austria.” Spar pointed out that, from an international perspective, the scarce availability of milk fat and rising farm milk prices play the largest role in price developments. There are no problems in obtaining sufficient quantities of butter from suppliers.
Record price for butter in Germany
In the meantime, the record price in Germany, which was set more than two years ago, has been surpassed. Since this week, consumers at supermarkets and discount stores have been paying 2.39 euros for a 250-gram pack of German private label butter.
“This is the highest price that has ever existed in Germany,” said Kerstin Keunecke, head of the dairy industry at Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (AMI), according to the German news agency. This means that butter costs 10 cents more than in the summer of 2022, when the previous high was reached.
Price increases cannot be ruled out in Germany either
Hans Foldenauer, spokesperson for the Federal Association of German Dairy Farmers (BDM), also does not rule out that butter prices may continue to rise. When prices in Germany will fall again is uncertain and depends on the development of the quantities of milk supplied, its ingredients and demand in the coming months.
Butter prices had already risen sharply in 2022 as a result of the Ukraine war and the energy crisis. According to the Federal Statistical Office, consumers in Germany paid 41 percent more for butter in August 2024 than in 2020.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
