Emily Margitan's Comm 101 Blog

Sweden has a butter shortage due to increased demand for butter. New diet trends as well as the downgrading dairy industry contributed to this shortage. The failure of  the dairy industry cannot be blamed on the price of farming and production in Sweden, which is similar to both Denmark and Holland. Milk production dropped by 15% over the last 20 years and the demand for butter rose by 18.2% over the past 3 years, it makes sense that butter is becoming a rare commodity. Substitution methods are being used in this situation to try and keep the butter industry afloat, Swedish cream production is being put on hold as Danish cream is being imported to Sweden.

Hamra Farm: Tumba, Sweden

This situation ties in very well with our first class in Comm 101 where government intervention’s benefit on certain industries was discussed. For example, Russian Vodka, and how inelastic and elastic demand can be related to goods. This article discusses many strategies from Econ 101 such as the factors that change demand. In this case, the factor that increased the demand for butter is consumer tastes and the reason why the quantity is lower is because of the decline of dairy farming in Sweden.

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-news/global-exchange/globe-correspondents/butter-shortage-has-swedes-churning/article2191753/