Smör prices soar in Sweden

A shortage of milk fat has increased butter prices in Europe with over 300% over an 18-month period. 

• 

  Butter in Sweden recently saw a full 25% price increase.

• Butter (smör in Swedish) is undergoing an explosive price increase just in time for the holiday baking season.

• Analysts discovered a recent 25 percent price increase from popular Swedish store chain ICA, which in turn affected prices from competitors Hemköp, Coop and Willy’s.

• Using a new analytics tool, industry experts have been able to track a 300 percent increase in butter prices over the last 1.5 years. The increase stems from a shortage of milk fat which in turn forced up the price for butter on the commodities exchange in the Netherlands with 50% since May, 2017. The shortage is strongly felt in Sweden, where a high-fat, low-carb diet is increasing the demand for butter and all dairy products in general.