Butter prices are soaring in France, the home of the croissant, whose flaky crust and satisfying taste rely on the dairy product, reports The Guardian. “There is a real risk of butter running out,” says the federation of French biscuit and cake makers.
Matthieu Labbe, from the baking industry group FEB, said butter is one-quarter of the croissant’s ingredients, so bakers cannot easily cut costs. Unless bakers pass along the higher costs to grocers and consumers, “some bakers could really be in difficulty,” Labbe told Le Figaro.
Wholesale butter prices are on the rise because dairy herds in France and the rest of Europe are not producing as much milk as in the past. Compounding the situation is rising demand for milk, both for table consumption and for making cheese and cream, rather than butter. Labbe says butter prices have doubled for bakers. For their part, dairy farmers say milk prices are too low because of EU stockpiles of powdered milk.