Supermarkets fear a stock shortage in the coming weeks. after a milk shortage that has lasted for several months.
Butter is an essential product in our diet. Whether it’s to make cake recipes, to spread it on our toast or to butter our pan, we use it every day. On average, the French consume eight kilos per inhabitant each year, making us the leading consumers in the world. Unfortunately, households may have to do without it in the weeks to come.
Since the first droughts of spring, players in the dairy industry, such as Lactalis, have been warning of a possible future shortage of the precious fat. And this, while demand remains relatively strong in France and around the world. A first factor explains this future shortage in French supermarkets: the drop in milk production. It fell in France by 1.4% between the first eight months of 2022 and those of 2021. It stood at 15.8 billion liters in September 2022, compared to 23.5 billion over the twelve months of 2021 and 23.8 billion in 2020.
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Inventory at its lowest
Collecting milk in the spring usually makes it possible to produce and build up large stocks to compensate for the usual deficit of fat in the second half. Unfortunately, stocks have never been as low as today to approach the end of the year. To avoid too large and long shortages, specialists advise the French not to make compulsive purchasesas was the case with oil recently.