Low milk levels mean no butter for Norway

Scandinavia blames unusually low levels of milk production in Denmark and Norway last summer for a spectacular shortage of butter which has, according to press agency reports end of December, seen some Internet exchange prices in Norway topping EUR125/kg. Whatever the average price might turn out to be, supply is well below demand according to the country’s largest dairy, Tine. With the butter shortage expected to reach around 1000 tonnes by end of January, neighbouring Denmark is proving unable to help. Even with the new fat tax on food products such as butter, a survey has shown that only 7% of Danes have actually cut back on their dairy food consumption so there’s very little left over to export. The shortage has even led to reported cases of smuggling with custom officers at the Swedish-Norwegian border finding 90 kg of butter stashed in a private car.

Other Nordic countries have also suffered shortages in recent months, with Finnish producer Valio reporting a shortfall of butter, impacting supplies in Finland, Sweden and Russia for the festive season.