With the price of butter rocketing up by 92 percent in a year in France, bakers are warning of a strong risk that key ingredient is 'running out' and threatening an entire industry.
According to Fabien Castanier, the general secretary of the federation of French biscuit and cakemakers, the price of butter, soared in May and that the rise was putting "unsustainable economic pressure" on the industry.
"Based on the current price, the extra charge annually is around €68m for makers of biscuits and cakes. Unfortunately the situation is going to get worse in the next few weeks with a strong risk of butter running out," he added.
Matthieu Labbe, a bakers' industry spokesman, said: "There is a real threat of butter shortages by the end of the year which could lead to panic on markets."
Meanwhile, the industry bodies are calling on responsible behaviour from supermarkets and cafes and restaurants to pass on the rise in the price of butter in the prices they charge shoppers, to avoid additional suffering for producers, reports the Guardian, adding that the consequence would be "the price the consumer pays for croissants, tarts and brioches is going to rise significantly very quickly".
However, the rise in the price of butter is being blamed on the falling milk yields in Europe, and France, which are also being hit due to the rising demand both domestically and internationally.
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