Scarcity hits butter consumers as processors suspend production
MONDAY APRIL 17 2023
The Livestock department has attributed the shortage of butter that has hit households and the hospitality industry to a scarcity of milk, which has seen processors abandon production.
Livestock principal secretary Harry Kimtai said the shortage in supply of raw milk saw dairy farms give priority to the processing of milk as they suspended other high-value products such as butter and ghee.
There has been an outcry by consumers over the shortage of the two, which has seen Kenya rely on imported butter, mainly from Turkey and the Middle East to meet local needs.
The shortage has pushed the cost of imported butter up significantly with a half-kilo packet retailing at Sh900 from Sh700 previously.
Local butter was selling at Sh650 for the same quantity when it was in abundant supply.
Hustlers weren’t buying butter to begin with, why would they buy butter when they can get a ton of blue band at the same price?
Butter is an upper middle class and above product, and for them cost isn’t the issue. It’s about taste, class, health etc. Inelastic demand they call it
butter isn’t about class but health. Hustlers don’t have a choice, that’s why they go for cheap alternatives . in other countries cheese and butter are common delicacies and affordable.
But in Kenya, production is low, because inputs are not enough.
From ages ago man has survived and flourished from Animal fats and products but mwafrika was told too much animal fat is not good .