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Why is butter so expensive.

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PrincessB
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Why is butter so expensive.

#192750

Postby PrincessB » January 11th, 2019, 2:35 pm

This has been puzzling me for a while.

I've assumed that the fat removed to make skimmed milk is a feedstock for butter, so it's essentially a free ingredient for the producer.

I still have in my mind the price point of about £0.75 for a pat of butter not the £1.50 it currently sells for.

Regards,

B.

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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#192754

Postby Alaric » January 11th, 2019, 2:45 pm

PrincessB wrote:This has been puzzling me for a while.


It puzzles me as well. There has been no parallel increase in the price or milk or other milk based products such as yoghurt or cheese. Whilst no so long ago, "premium" brands of butter sold for £ 1.40 or £ 1.50, with the own label brands at around £ 1.00 or less, it's now £ 2.00 for brands and £ 1.50 for supermarket labelled.

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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#192756

Postby kiloran » January 11th, 2019, 2:50 pm

Perhaps because the EU butter mountain has melted.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -to-linger
(behind a paywall but you get the idea)

Wine Lake next?

--kiloran

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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#192760

Postby ReformedCharacter » January 11th, 2019, 3:01 pm

PrincessB wrote:This has been puzzling me for a while.

I've assumed that the fat removed to make skimmed milk is a feedstock for butter, so it's essentially a free ingredient for the producer.

I still have in my mind the price point of about £0.75 for a pat of butter not the £1.50 it currently sells for.

Regards,

B.

I don't know why the price of butter has risen but the fat required to make butter certainly isn't a free by-product. From the farmer's point of view producing fat is expensive because of the food the cow consumes to produce it. Many modern cattle breeds are produced to make a low butterfat milk for that reason.

RC

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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#192787

Postby scottnsilky » January 11th, 2019, 3:45 pm

I haven't bought any butter for several decades so I have never noticed the price, but I have been wondering for some time, why cheese is so dear.

dp

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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#192794

Postby ReformedCharacter » January 11th, 2019, 3:52 pm

scottnsilky wrote:I haven't bought any butter for several decades so I have never noticed the price, but I have been wondering for some time, why cheese is so dear.

dp

Apart from other production costs, it takes about 10 litres of milk to produce 1kg of a hard cheese like cheddar.

RC

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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#193350

Postby didds » January 14th, 2019, 8:33 am

ReformedCharacter wrote:
scottnsilky wrote:I haven't bought any butter for several decades so I have never noticed the price, but I have been wondering for some time, why cheese is so dear.

dp

Apart from other production costs, it takes about 10 litres of milk to produce 1kg of a hard cheese like cheddar.

RC


and then it needs to sit and mature - so its a long ROI in effect.

There was a recent R4 food program, or kitchen cupboard, that talked about cheese in depth - it may still be available on iplayer?

didds

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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#193364

Postby richfool » January 14th, 2019, 9:24 am

We use an Olive spread, in the hope that it is healthier. I think it costs about 85p for a 500g tub.

neversay
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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#193415

Postby neversay » January 14th, 2019, 12:11 pm

richfool wrote:We use an Olive spread, in the hope that it is healthier. I think it costs about 85p for a 500g tub.


Is it healthier?

If so, we should switch.

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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#193439

Postby richfool » January 14th, 2019, 12:52 pm

neversay wrote:
richfool wrote:We use an Olive spread, in the hope that it is healthier. I think it costs about 85p for a 500g tub.


Is it healthier?

If so, we should switch.

I am still not sure on the answer to that. It sounds like butter is healthier than margarine, but I am not clear on whether the Olive Oil spreads are margarines with olive oil, or something else.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitn ... healthier/

It seems that Olive Oil is better for cooking, but you can't really spread neat olive oil on your bread.

https://ancestral-nutrition.com/which-i ... ive-oil-2/

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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#193485

Postby marronier » January 14th, 2019, 5:07 pm

The high price of butter was predicted 3 years ago ,due to fewer dairy herds as farmers quit as a result of a fall in milk prices, although wholesale prices rose around Europe due to a shortage of milk and cream.

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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#193492

Postby colin » January 14th, 2019, 5:46 pm

We don't buy butter but perhaps the higher cost is due to the hot summer and supermarkets have protected us from a rise in the cost of milk?

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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#193509

Postby UncleEbenezer » January 14th, 2019, 7:08 pm

richfool wrote:It seems that Olive Oil is better for cooking, but you can't really spread neat olive oil on your bread.

You don't spread it, you dip the bread in the oil!

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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#193512

Postby jfgw » January 14th, 2019, 7:16 pm

UncleEbenezer wrote:
richfool wrote:It seems that Olive Oil is better for cooking, but you can't really spread neat olive oil on your bread.

You don't spread it, you dip the bread in the oil!


With some balsamic vinegar.

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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#193516

Postby richfool » January 14th, 2019, 7:18 pm

jfgw wrote:
UncleEbenezer wrote:
richfool wrote:It seems that Olive Oil is better for cooking, but you can't really spread neat olive oil on your bread.

You don't spread it, you dip the bread in the oil!


With some balsamic vinegar.

Can I still then use marmalade?

UncleEbenezer
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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#193523

Postby UncleEbenezer » January 14th, 2019, 7:32 pm

jfgw wrote:
UncleEbenezer wrote:
richfool wrote:It seems that Olive Oil is better for cooking, but you can't really spread neat olive oil on your bread.

You don't spread it, you dip the bread in the oil!


With some balsamic vinegar.

Erm, are you confusing bread with salad there?

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Re: Why is butter so expensive.

#193529

Postby jfgw » January 14th, 2019, 7:48 pm

richfool wrote:
jfgw wrote:
UncleEbenezer wrote:You don't spread it, you dip the bread in the oil!


With some balsamic vinegar.

Can I still then use marmalade?


Feel free to do what you want. Don't let anyone try to stop you if that is what you want to do.


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