Utterly Butterly… But Where? Is India facing a shortage of Amul Butter?

Utterly Butterly… evasive. India’s favourite butter, Amul, has reportedly run out of stock in several parts of the country. There has been a shortage of butter in Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat’s Ahmedabad. It’s not available in grocery stores and on food delivery apps.

Shortage in parts of India

The shortage was first reported from Ahmedabad. Several stores in the city have not received stock of Amul butter for at least 15 days. In fact, it is not just butter but other Amul milk products like ghee and fresh cream are also not available.

In Delhi, Amul Butter has not been available in the market for 20 to 25 days. Distributors have said there is a supply shortage and they too have not been receiving the goods.

A 28-year-old shopkeeper from Brahmpuri in Delhi told News18.com, “It [the shortage] is affecting our overall sales, as we now have to return the significant number of customers who want to buy Amul Butter.” He also said that ghee and cream by the dairy giant are also scarce.

In the Capital and neighbouring cities, the butter is not available on BigBasket, Flipkart grocery and other apps, the report says.

Also read: Amul: How an advertisement for butter transformed into witty social commentary

Disgruntled customers

Customers from Ahmedabad, who have been unable to find the product, have now taken to Twitter to complain. Even those in Mumbai are now saying that Amul Butter and Ghee are not available at the local kirana store for two weeks.

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No butter anywhere in Ahmedabad. Dairies includung Amul are not producing enough.

Shopkeepers saying shortage could last a week.

— peeleraja (@peeleraja) November 8, 2022

Keshav Chaudhary from Punjab tweeted, “Why is amul butter in short in batala city of gurdaspur or it is everywhere.”

Why is amul butter in short in batala city of gurdaspur or it is everywhere @AmulPunjab

— Keshav chaudhary (@Keshavc01496256) November 8, 2022

Paramjit Singh from Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly while complaining about the shortage also said that he was ready to shell out more for Amul Butter if it was available.

Shopkeepers in the state have similar grievances. Raj Singh from Prayagraj wrote on Twitter, “The distributor is blackmailing showing shortage of butter, they want retailers to purchase other products which they are unable to sell.”

@Amul_Coop Please provide detail of your concerned person dealing with the issues of retailers in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The distributor is blackmailing showing shortage of butter, they want rerailers to purchase other products which they are unable to sell.

— Raj Singh (@Raj_Tantra) November 7, 2022

Fake products doing the rounds

The shortage has also reportedly led to counterfeit products being sold in the market.

Twitter user Rayees Mohiuddin wrote, “Please be careful while buying Amul butter from the market. Duplicate butter is being sold everywhere. Hope the food and safety department wakes up and concerned authorities take this matter seriously.”

There have been several others who have raised questions about the quality of the butter, which could be a fake product.
Diwali disruptions?

Reports in the media say that a shortage of butter is because of high demand during Diwali and this is an annual trend. According to retailers from Gujarat, disruption in the supply chain around Diwali is common.

Chetan Patel, an employee at an Amul store told Ahmedabad Mirror, said, “About 70% of daily customers buy butter. Today, we got 30 packets of butter of only 100 gm size after at least 15 days. Other products like fresh cream are also available in smaller packs. This is because of supply chain issues during Diwali.”

Amul says…

A company official, requesting anonymity, told News18.com that there is an issue with the Amul Butter supply because of the high demand during Diwali. He said it will improve within a few days.

RS Sodhi, managing director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation which owns Amul, told Ahmedabad Mirror, “There were instances of shortage of products like butter and ghee before Diwali because of the higher demand. We couldn’t match the production for some time, but now it is getting normal and things will be absolutely fine in the next four-five days.”

Global worry

But it is not India alone that is facing a shortage of butter. There has been a threat to the global supply of butter and other milk products from the United States to India. Heat and drought are putting a strain on dairy cows across the world.

Some of the world’s biggest milk-making regions are becoming less hospitable to these animals due to extreme weather brought on by climate change: Cows don’t yield as much milk under the stress of scorching temperatures, and arid conditions and storms compound the problem by withering or destroying the grass and other crops they eat, according to a report in Bloomberg.

Sharad Bhai Harendra Bhai Pandya, whose family has more than 40 cows in Gujarat, said that milk production in his warm declines by more than 30 per cent during summer.

Amul Dairy, which buys milk from farmers, is doing all it can to protect the supply. “During winter when production is more, we conserve extra milk in [the form] of powder and use that defence in case of a deficit during the summer,” Sodhi told Bloomberg.

With inputs from agencies