The Great Norwegian Butter Shortage of 2011

This article threw me for a number of reasons. I’ll comment on it paragraph by paragraph:

“An acute butter shortage in Norway, one of the world’s richest countries, has left people worrying how to bake their Christmas goodies with store shelves emptied and prices through the roof.”

Why not ship some from Sweden? Or Denmark? Or the UK? Sounds like a good short term operation for someone with a truck. Or a boat.

“The shortfall, expected to last into January, amounts to between 500 and 1,000 tonnes, said Tine, Norway’s main dairy company, while online sellers have offered 500-gramme packs for up to 350 euros ($465).”

Whoa! Seriously? This is nearly $1,000/kilo, or $907,000 per ton. A truck can hold 5 tons or so. There’s obviously no way those extreme prices would hold if the shortage were filled, but this still seems like a great opportunity. Seriously, why isn’t someone with a truck making a quick buck here? If any Norwegian readers want to send me an address, I’ll ship you butter for just $150/kilo plus any import fees.

“The dire shortage poses a serious challenge for Norwegians who are trying to finish their traditional Christmas baking — a task which usually requires them to make at least seven different kinds of biscuits.”

What?! Seven different kinds of biscuits? Required? I didn’t even know that many types of biscuits existed. Okay Norway, now you really have my attention.

“The shortfall has been blamed on a rainy summer that cut into feed production and therefore dairy output, but also the ballooning popularity of a low-carbohydrate, fat-rich diet that has sent demand for butter soaring. “Compared to 2010, demand has grown by as much as 30 percent,” Tine spokesman Lars Galtung told AFP.”

Are you sure it wasn’t the required 7 biscuits per family?

“Last Friday, customs officers stopped a Russian at the Norwegian-Swedish border and seized 90 kilos (198 pounds) of butter stashed in his car.”

Oh finally. Someone did try and make a buck. And his butter was seized?! What’s more important Norway, customs laws or preserving the Christmas biscuit baking tradition?

And the article just abruptly ends there.