A warning has been issued urging shoppers to check their butter before adding it to their trolley, as one big change coming to supermarkets could alter your weekly shop
Butter is one of the staple household items that many of us pick up on our weekly shops. We might not need it every week, but it has a variety of uses in the kitchen, from spreading on toast to making delicious cakes. But shoppers have been warned to check the label on the butter they buy in supermarkets after a change was implemented recently.
In an Instagram video shared by Gavin Wren, he explained there’s a “big scandal brewing in the world of butter” and it could have an impact on our weekly shops. The change may not seem too detrimental, but this one adjustment could ruin your next baking recipe or leave you short on butter for your sandwich.
Anyone who buys packs of butter regularly will know they are often sold in 250g blocks. Gavin explained they used to be a pound, which is around 227g, but when decimalisation happened, 250g became the standard.
But, following the cost of living crisis, all that has changed. As some shoppers have reported seeing butter in 200g blocks – which could make all the difference when baking a cake.
Gavin said: “During the cost of living crisis, the price of milk skyrocketed by about 70%. Now, butter is made from cream, which means you need a lot of milk to take the cream off the top to turn that into butter. So butter is an expensive byproduct of milk production.
“Believe it or not, the dairy sector is actually very competitive. Firstly, farmers don’t get paid very much money for milk, but some of the dairies simply don’t make much money either. And now we’re seeing that a lot of companies are cutting the size of a block of butter from 250g to 200g.”
Although some butter packs have gotten smaller, Gavin insisted it’s not the same as shrinkflation, where the product gets smaller but the price stays the same, meaning you pay the same for less.
He highlighted the pack size varies between supermarkets, but some have reduced the pack size while keeping the price per gram the same, meaning you’ll pay 25% less for your block of butter now that it’s 50g lighter.
There are other supermarkets, however, that have maintained the same price while reducing the package size, and a few have even decided to keep things exactly as they are, neither reducing the package size nor increasing the price.
The change means you’ll need to be more vigilant when purchasing butter, especially if you’re using it in a recipe. If you need 250g of butter, be sure to check the packaging – otherwise, you could end up 50g short.
Commenters on the video expressed their annoyance at the recent changes, with many home bakers saying it had caused confusion and frustration when they suddenly found themselves with less butter than they needed.
One person said: “It’s a pain when baking, but so far at least some own brands are still 250g.”
Another added: “You needed the old size when baking a sandwich cake, now one block of Anchor isn’t enough. I was so vexed they snuck this in.”
A third posted: “250g packs are handy as many recipes tell you to use 225g, so you have extra to butter up the tins to line them. Now 200g means you have to buy a second pack, and have 175g left over.”
