Photo: Kirill Kukhmar/TASS
Like cheese in butter… No, it’s better not to do that now. Because lately the price of butter has risen very rapidly. Other dairy products are also rising in price (see “Just the Numbers”). But since the beginning of the year, cheeses and cottage cheese, according to Rosstat, have increased in price by 6.4%, drinking milk – by 11.2-11.8% (depending on processing technology), and butter, 21.5%.
In the last week alone the price of butter increased by 1.4% (double that of cheese), and in the last two weeks combined by almost 3%.
“In general, everything here is getting more expensive, from transportation to packaging,” dairy producers shrug. – Why shouldn’t our products become more expensive?
As Soyuzmoloko explains, throughout the year the average increase in costs in the processing industry was 16% (costs of raw materials, salaries, fuel, electricity, packaging and loans). During the same period, milk prices increased on average by “only” 6.9%.
In general, there is no longer any strength to stop the price. But the costs for the production of all types of dairy products appear to be rising, and it is butter that is rising in price at the fastest rate: already well over 16%.
As Dmitry Leonov, deputy chairman of the board of directors of the Rusprodsoyuz association, recently reported, the costs of specific raw materials for butter producers from the beginning of the year to August increased by 10-20%, including because in production they are used imported fats. of butter. Added to this is logistics, which has increased its price between 30% and 35% and packaging between 10% and 15%. Additionally, the retail chains’ profit margin specifically for butter is on average 70%.
Raw material costs for butter producers increased by 10 to 20% from the beginning of the year to August. Photo: Alexey Konovalov/TASS
There is nothing easier hour after hour. What type of imported fats are in our oil? Don’t be alarmed, we are not talking about the famous “palm”, which should not be in butter, but about the “correct” dairy fat (pure cow’s milk fat). It is true that, as experts explain, after 2022 their purchases decreased significantly (almost 90% now come from Belarus). It is no longer profitable to transport such a perishable product from afar, which requires special storage conditions. In addition, control over supplies has been strengthened thanks to the Mercury system (generally speaking, it is no longer realistic to import low-quality palm oil at a low price and pass it off as dairy fat).
So what’s the problem?
– The technology of butter production is such that powdered milk cannot be used there, as is the case with several simpler dairy products. What you need is fresh milk, lots of it and with a certain percentage of fat (in fact, without it you can’t get butter – Ed.), and of no quality. In addition, this is a rather complex product in terms of storage: cheese can be stored longer,” Anatoly Tikhonov, director of the Center for International Agribusiness and Food Safety at the Russian Academy of National Economy (RANEPA), told KP. – Our consumption of raw milk has increased considerably. Even due to the fact that part of the products made with it are exported. On the one hand, this is good: it’s money. But, on the other hand, high-quality fresh milk with a certain fat content is not enough. Demand has also increased considerably from our cheese producers, who have achieved very good growth rates. We have learned to make cheeses well, customers have tried them and this sector has become more profitable than butter manufacturers. Therefore, cheese is now winning the raw material competition to butter. And one more factor: control by Rospotrebnadzor and Rosselkhoznadzor has increased (through the use of modern information systems – Ed.), a number of loopholes to reduce the cost of products through “substitutes” for dairy fat – the same palm oil – have been closed. But this also affects the price of oil that consumers see on the shelves.
According to the expert, butter is currently becoming more expensive around the world and this, of course, also affects us to one degree or another: producers look at world prices in one way or another. And in Australia, New Zealand, America and Europe, there are now problems with milk production, both due to climate change (and problems with feeding) and the reduction of areas for livestock farming (here, in particular, they tried “ green”, declaring that cows are almost the main suppliers of carbon to the atmosphere and, therefore, the culprits of global warming). So even if now the world’s main butter suppliers were “friendly” countries with us, we would not see cheap butter from them.
Meanwhile, analysts record a drop in our demand for butter due to high prices. From October 2023 to September 2024, its sales, according to NielsenIQ, decreased by 1.3%. While the rest of the milk has grown. In particular, for cream (the same dairy fat, but in a different and simpler form), almost 18%.
ONLY NUMBERS
This is how the cost of dairy products has changed
For the week (October 8-14) Since the beginning of the year
Butter +1.4% +21.5%
Sterilized milk +0.5% +11.8%
Pasteurized milk +0.8% +11.2%
Sour cream +0.9% +11%
Cottage cheese +1% +6.4%
Cheeses +0.7% +6.4%
(Rosstat data)
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