What's going on with the price of cheese and butter?

Tuesday, 27 June 2023

Butter prices have been lower in recent months.

How much has the price of butter and cheese moved in the past 10 months?

Stuff has been tracking the prices of 22 grocery items at three Pak‘nSave, New World and Countdown supermarkets in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch since August last year.

The data shows significant movements in the price of butter and cheese over that time.

Here’s what we’ve found.

How much have prices changed month-on-month?

The price of a 1kg block of home brand cheese has fluctuated since August, depending on location and store.

In August prices varied between $9.79 and $13.50. Prices rose in November, with the cheapest being $9.99 and the most expensive being $14.50. In January the most expensive price was $15.69.

Since then prices have remained below $14.50.

Cheese prices have varied over the months of tracking.

This month prices were between $13.50 and $9.99.

When it comes to a 500g block of home brand butter prices remained between $4.95 and $5.40 until December when prices peaked at $6.50, before dropping back down in March.

This month prices in some supermarkets had dropped below $5.

What's the highest price we recorded and the lowest?

The highest price for a 1kg home brand block of cheese was $15.69 at Countdown Moorhouse in January.

The cheapest was $9.79 at Pak’nSave Mt Albert in August, September and October.

While consumers face higher prices for meat and dairy, the silver lining is record export earnings for our food sector. (Video first published June 11, 2022)

The most expensive price for a block of home brand butter was $6.50 at all three Countdowns during the summer months.

The cheapest was $4.89 at Pak’nSave Mt Albert and Kilbirnie in May and June.

What components go into the product, and where do they come from?

A 1kg block of Countdown edam cheese is made up of pasteurised cows' milk, salt, starter culture and non-animal rennet.

Those are the same ingredients for edam cheese made by Mainland, Pam’s, Alpine, and Rolling Meadow.

How have those components moved in price?

Cheese prices have continued to soar with the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) experiencing a cheddar price rise of 7.4% to US$4668/metric tonne.

Since late 2021, global cheese prices have been, on average, 32% higher than the five-year average prior,

Results from the June trading event show butter prices were up 5.5% since the last GDT, with the average price sitting at US$5379/metric tonne.

What other factors might be having an influence?

Dairy products such as butter and cheese are also among the New World and Pak’nSave’s “great price scheme” which means they are held at a lower price.

Countdown’s price freeze includes camembert and brie, but not edam or butter.