5 May 2008 – Japan may have escaped the rice shortages which have been plaguing many of its Asian neighbours, but media report that the country has ran into supply problems of its own: there is a nationwide shortage of butter.
Butter isn’t part of the traditional Japanese diet, but has become increasingly popular thanks partly to a rise in bread consumption. Japanese people now consume 13,800 tonnes of butter a year, with the food industry using yet more of the dairy product.
The Agriculture Ministry has ordered Japan’s top four dairy companies, namely Meiji Dairies Corp., Snow Brand Milk Products Co., Yotsuba Inc. and Morinaga Milk Industry Co., to step up butter production by as much as 20% in order to ease the shortage.
Several factors are to blame for the supply problem. Dairy farmers have been restricting raw milk production in answer to a recent drop in milk consumption, sending supplies of the commodity down. Dairy companies have also been allocating more of Japan’s flagging milk output to the production of cream and milk-based drinks, where bigger margins are to be had. Finally, foreign imports have become more expensive due to rising demand for the product elsewhere in Asia and a lack of cattle feed in Australia, itself caused by a drought.
The shortage may have been exacerbated by an overreaction on the part of the Japanese people, who have been stocking up on the product. Demand is expected to ease up once butter prices go up 8 to 10% later this month.