All news
Why have butter prices skyrocketed?
The rise in prices for butter has been going on since May of this year, but has not yet been noticed by consumers due to the insignificant "link" of prices for the products. Thus, in Kazan, retail prices for butter with a fat content of 72.5% have remained stable for a long time and are within the range of 120-130 rubles per pack weighing 180 g.
In October, prices soared. The price of one of the most popular food products immediately increased by almost 30%. In the city's large retail chains, a small block of butter costs about 200 rubles, but in some stores it can be found for 160-170. In any case, the buyer must add an "extra" $50 per package to the previous price.
Buyers have noticed a decrease in the availability of butter due to rising prices. If previously in large supermarkets you could choose from 8-12 brands, including Belarusian producers, now there are 5-6 brands on the shelves, and most of them are local producers. Shelves with spreads have also become scarce. Previously there were many of them, but only two or three brands.
In a conversation with Realnoe Vremya, Tatarstan milk processors said that butter production is not decreasing. Every day, the republic processes about 4,000-5,000 tons of milk, a significant portion of which is used to produce butter. However, the amount depends on demand and the price situation. According to the Tatarstan Ministry of Agriculture, 102.5 thousand tons of butter were produced from January to August.
“Today, companies have no problems with product delivery; most of them have long-term contracts, which ensures uninterrupted supplies to stores,” the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan reported.
How to see a 30% increase
In fact, since September last year, large retail chains have radically revised purchase prices for dairy products with a high milk fat content (butter, cream, sour cream, yogurt, cheese) for the first time since the beginning of the year. As a result, retail prices have increased from 10% to 30%, the processor reported.
"We have been waiting for a long time for the fuel price increase." But not all retail chains make decisions quickly, and this is a social product. It takes more time to justify the increased costs. The new retail prices have been agreed upon at all levels. "We only managed to agree on this issue in September, and the price list was changed," said the head of a large milk processor, adding that the price of butter has increased by about 30%.
At the same time, according to him, each manufacturer "has its own price. Everyone has agreed on it."
However, according to him, not all refiners have managed to successfully negotiate prices with the networks. Therefore, some are stopping online deliveries, saying: "It is not profitable to ship oil at the old price."
As producers told Realnoe Vremya, from August to September, companies raised the purchase price of milk from 26 to 40 rubles per liter, depending on the fat content. It was these costs that formed the basis for the revision of prices for butter.
— The purchase price of crude oil has increased since the beginning of the year. For example, if at the beginning of the year the average purchase price of milk in agricultural organizations was 33.37 rubles/kg, now the price has reached 37.02 rubles/kg. According to the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Tatarstan, the growth rate was 11.27%.
Other factors that contributed to the increase in production costs include the indexation of employee wages, a 19% increase in base rates and "of course, the growth in demand for the products themselves," the ministry stressed.
To support processors, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan allocated subsidies for processing in the amount of 180 million rubles for the first time this year. "Since 2024, new subsidies have been introduced to support the processing of raw milk, goat and sheep milk for human consumption. The amount of this subsidy was 179979833.33 rubles. Thanks to these support measures, the dairy market remains stable today and there is an opportunity to contain explosive growth, the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs reported.
The republic's dairy industry has become a leader in terms of the volume of state support. "A positive factor is that, thanks to the governments of Russia and Tatarstan, all measures to support enterprises engaged in the production and processing of milk have been preserved," the department added.
However, processors are confident that this is a "drop in the bucket" and will not prevent further price increases by companies. "Tatarstan processes about 4 thousand tons of milk daily. If the purchase price is increased by 1 ruble, the cost increases to 4 million rubles per day. If the purchase price increases by 15 rubles, the cost will grow to 60 million rubles per day. And if you take it per month, the cost increases by 280 million rubles per month," one of Realnoe Vremya's interlocutors calculated.
Denis Pirogov, General Director of the Union of Milk Producers of Tatarstan, added that the increase in retail prices occurred not only in Tatarstan, but throughout the country.
"Belarus supplies Russia with a significant volume of milk, but it is still not enough. Their share on the Russian market does not exceed 15%," Pirogov added.
Currently, the price of 1 kg of butter with 82.5% fat content on the exchange has risen to 1,000 rubles, and butter with 72.5% fat content fluctuates around 900 rubles. "These costs will continue to be transferred to the shelf, and this applies to all dairy products, not just butter," he believes.
Since May, the Rosselkhoznadzor mechanism has been in place, which monitors incoming and outgoing raw materials based on milk fat indicators. As a result, all counterfeit vegetable fats have been removed from the market. If previously there were products from at least 10 manufacturers on the shelves, now only a few are available. "We have cleared the counterfeit market, but at the same time, prices have risen and a niche has formed. It is good to be able to buy dairy products without fear of counterfeiting, but the industry notes that you have to pay more for natural products.
The October increase in oil prices will not be the last this year, refiners predict. In their opinion, a new leap forward may occur by the end of the year, when demand increases even more and companies will not have time to increase their capabilities.
"What is the forecast? The growth of domestic crude oil is expected to continue in the future. We expect growth of at least 2% across the country and at least 4-5% in Tatarstan," Denis Pirogov said. "Will this affect consumer prices?" "It will depend on how buyers react to the new prices."
Meanwhile, as Realnoe Vremya has found out, the rise in prices for butter in Tatarstan should stop at the end of October. A representative of the UFAS of Tatarstan, Airat Shafigullin, reported that an agreement on stabilizing prices for this dairy product will be signed in the next two weeks.