The Fancy Butter Buying Guide

In October, news of a French butter shortage shook the food world to its croissant-shaped core. Prices tripled in France as consumers nervously hoarded caches. In some areas, as much as 46 percent of demand went unmet, according to Nielsen Holding Plc.

Considering how basic the ingredients are—butter is nothing more than milk cream churned into semisolid, spreadable fat—the shortage seemed implausible. But various economic forces around the world converged to shrink supplies: In 2015 the European Union ceased milk quotas, leading to a brief glut of dairy products that ended up with farmers on the Continent decreasing output by 3 percent. The U.S., meanwhile, had to reduce its exports to meet domestic demand. And a drought in New Zealand, the world’s top dairy exporter, hurt that country’s production. By this fall, butter supplies in France were woefully short, and shelves were stripped of even the top-quality stuff.