10 ways to get around the crazy cost of butter

The price of butter

If you’ve noticed the high price of butter lately, you’re not alone. According to Stats NZ data, butter prices are the highest they’ve been in two years.

From August to December 2024, a 500g block of butter (based on the cheapest available brand at each retail outlet) ranged from $6.51 to $6.67. That’s an increase of nearly 50% compared with the price from December 2023 to March 2024 when a block only cost $4.48 – the cheapest price since January 2022.

Butter prices in the last 3 years

Source: Stats NZ Consumer Price Index (CPI) data

You’d have paid even more if you’d gone for a big brand like Anchor or Mainland. This week, a 500g block of these brands was more than $9 at all three major supermarket chains.

At Woolworths, a block of Mainland Salted Butter cost $9.69 and Anchor Pure Butter cost $9.85. Prices were similar at New World - the Mainland butter cost $9.69 and Anchor brand was $9.89. At Pak’nSave, both brands also tipped over the $9 mark.

Supermarket butter brands were a cheaper option. Woolworths’ Salted Butter and Pams Pure Butter (at New World) were both $7.19. At Pak’nSave, you could pick up a block of Pams Pure Butter for $6.89. That’s on a par with The Warehouse’s offer, where you could buy Market Kitchen Salted Butter for $6.90 (limited to two per customer).

Why butter prices are so high

The price consumers pay for dairy products in New Zealand is influenced by global dairy prices, the cost of making the product and the exchange rate.

According to Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand executive director Kimberly Crewther, the price of butter in the international dairy market is currently at a historic high, reflecting strong demand relative to supply.

“The global supply-demand balance for butter is influenced by milk production trends, which are in turn influenced by a range of on-farm costs and the weather. In general, the trends globally have been for increased costs in recent years. The natural variation in weather across dairy producing regions is reflected in supply variation. That means milk supply and, in turn, dairy prices can have a cyclical element to them.”

Ways to save money on butter

While we can’t predict if butter prices will drop any time soon, here are 10 things you can do to help keep your butter costs down while prices are so high.

1. Butter blends, which are made with cream and vegetable oil, are cheaper and still give the buttery taste. They’re also easier to spread than pure butter. For information about the different brands, check out our butter versus margarine report.

2. Use a food processor to make your own dairy spread by mixing butter with a tasteless oil like canola. If you need to buy a food processor, check out our food processor test results.

3. If the steep price of butter makes you avoid baking, add the words “without butter” when searching for recipes online. These will usually bring up recipes that call for oil, margarine or yoghurt instead of butter. You could also look for recipes that replace butter with pureed apple, pumpkin or beans! To decide which oil you’d prefer, read our Which cooking oil should you use? article.

4. Vegan recipes don’t use butter as it’s an animal product. You won’t have to buy eggs either!

5. If you need some butter quick smart but don’t want to buy a whole block, you can make some from cream. You’re unlikely to save money if you have to buy the cream to make your butter, so, this is only a good idea if you have some cream that’s going unused or can get some for cheap. You’ll also be left with buttermilk, which you could use in your baking. There are instructions for making your own butter on Anchor’s website.

6. You don’t want to be throwing out expensive butter because you haven’t stored it correctly. Pop it in the dairy compartment of the fridge door if you’re going to be using it in the next few days – it'll keep it soft and away from pungent foods that can change its taste. If you want it to last longer, store butter wrapped and not in the fridge door.

7. You can freeze butter and just get out what you need from time to time. Chop it into pieces and wrap it before you put it in the freezer so you can grab a knob at a time or use a grater or peeler to take what you need from the frozen block. Salted butter can be frozen for up to 12 months; unsalted butter up to 6 months.

8. The Grocer app can show you where to find the cheapest butter near you on the day you need to buy it. The Warehouse is an affordable option for butter – its Market Kitchen brand regularly sells for $6.90 for a 500g block.

9. Don’t forget to compare brands by unit price as not all blocks of butter weigh the same. You might think you’re getting a cheap block only to realise later it’s 400g rather than 500g. Unit pricing will show you how much you’re paying per 100g. Read our article on how unit pricing can save you money.

10. Ignore the brand – butter is butter, so nutritionally, all brands are similar. Any taste difference between them could be down to the season, the cow’s breed, the cow’s feed and the processing of the butter. Our supermarket store survey found there’s usually one cheaper butter brand on sale each week.