My related question is a bit more specific: why is butter so much more expensive this year than it was last year?

Katie wrote:My related question is a bit more specific: why is butter so much more expensive this year than it was last year?

Growing bovine union pension and health care obligations.

Katie wrote:My related question is a bit more specific: why is butter so much more expensive this year than it was last year?

I dont think I have noticed a sharp increase, and we buy butter pretty much every week. Typically one of the stores I shop at has it on sale. Unsalted Land O' lakes, or the store brand.

I have noticed a big increase. A basic store-brand pound of butter for $2 was not hard to find last year, now it is.

Same with cheese, i.e., an 8-oz store-brand block for $2 could be had with a cyclical regularity last year, and occasionally on sale for $1/lb. Now it's hard to find the same kind of product for less than $3.

Milk prices in the Chicago area do not seem to me to have increased lately at the same rate as have butter and cheese prices.

Katie wrote:I have noticed a big increase. A basic store-brand pound of butter for $2 was not hard to find last year, now it is.

.

Ill have to pay closer attention this week @ Ultra foods. We did our grocery shopping last weekend @ Caputo's(had a craving for a quality deli) which is always more expensive for butter, milk, etc.

aschie30 wrote:

grits wrote:

aschie30 wrote:I'm a little confused. The good butter (which was discontinued) was made by Humboldt Creamery, which is in California. So was it "flat-packed" into a rectangle (ie, Western-style)?

The flat pack for the non-organic butter is a recent change.

Right, so prior to the change, the butter you liked was in Eastern-style packaging, then?

I haven't posted about any change in the butter quality. My only gripe was the new packaging. Western-style, Eastern-style, or Martian-style, it doesn't fit in my freezer cubby. A few months ago, it was two sticks on the bottom, two sticks on the top. Now it's a flat pack. However--and I feel sure about this--I will get over the disappointment.

JoelF wrote:I have to take exception to that logic: To make a pound of butter, you end up with 2.5 gallons of skim milk, which still has value.
The reason why butter is high-priced is that butter is goooood, and there is a high demand for cream and butterfat. With Atkins still popular for dieting, delicious delicious fats are in higher demand. Ice cream, cheese, coffee drinks, baked goods, etc. all need butterfat. Demand is a big part of it, transportation costs are probably the next biggest contributor to the price.

According to the NM Dairy Council, over 90% of US milk is produced by Holstein cows. Of the six major dairy breeds in the US, Holstein milk contains the lower butterfat content, only half of the amount of butterfat as Brown Swiss milk. Lack of supply may account for a higher cost.

Holsteins have been 90% of cows for many decades! Jerseys have the highest butterfat, something like 4.5% compared to 3.5% for Holsteins.

Katie wrote:I have noticed a big increase. A basic store-brand pound of butter for $2 was not hard to find last year, now it is.

Butter prices have fluctuated a lot over the last decade. It is 20 percent more expensive now than it was a year ago, but it was the same price in 2001 as it is today.

You can download butter prices at http://future.aae.wisc.edu/

d4v3 wrote:I have found that the inner wrappers of most butter very clearly state plant# xx-xxx. Of course that doesn't help much if one is in a a store looking at the outside of the box, which has a more cryptic code. I know it indicates at least the plant the butter was packeged at, if not the number of the dairy. ...

So I just ran across this old thread, and thought I'd mention that the best answer to this question I've seen can be found at http://whereismymilkfrom.com/finding-my-code.

Cheap butter tip: Kwik Trip gas stations in Wisconsin seem to stock butter as a loss leader. The last time we stopped off I-94, in Sturtevant, I think, or possibly Oak Creek, it was $1.99 per pound, which is less than the Costco price. There's a maximum of 5 pounds per purchase, but you can buy as little as 1 pound (unlike Costco, where it comes in 4-pound units).

This isn't premium cultured butter, but it's certainly comparable to Kirkland or supermarket brands. I have been making excellent toffee with it.

Obviously, it's not worth going up to Wisconsin just to buy a few pounds of butter, but if you're headed up to Milwaukee, it's worth a quick detour off the expressway, especially if you need gas anyway. (And gas is MUCH cheaper in Wisconsin.)