We present the following news with complete sincerity: France is currently experiencing a severe butter shortage, and bakers are seriously concerned they’ll have to increase the price of their croissants.
Really. And it’s just as serious as it sounds, folks.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BarHrHqA3px/?tagged=beurre
Across the nation, refrigerated supermarket shelves are sitting empty as the nation grinds through what some have described as the worst butter shortage since World War II.
An increase in international demand, partially spurred by a very literal hunger in China and across the Middle East, has contributed to the crisis.
The European Union’s 2015 decision to banish limits on how much milk dairy farmers could produce also dropped dairy prices in the region, meaning French producers have actually chosen to produce less.
These factors have combined to drive the price of industrial butter way, way up. The yellow stuff cost around $3,800 a tonne wholesale in April last year, but it topped $10,000 in the past few months.
The knock-on effects could be considerable. Patisseries, one of the nation’s inarguable culinary cornerstones, may well have to pass costs on to consumers. If French croissant fans choose not to partake, well, that’s a huge industry in deep trouble.
The nation’s food and agriculture minister Stéphane Travert has insisted that total milk production will increase to meet demand before too long. Christ, we hope so.
