The Swiss government has announced that it will be allowing an additional 2.000 tons of butter to be imported from overseas. It comes amid renewed concern that butter could become scarce in Switzerland by the end of the year, due to low domestic supply and high demand.

Most Swiss milk is made into cheese

"According to the assessments of the industry, the domestic supply of butter is not sufficient this year to meet demand," the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) announced in a statement this week. Even though Switzerland has a large supply of milk, most of it is made into Switzerland’s famous cheeses and is exported by international companies overseas.

This means that, according to FOAG, butter made in Switzerland is set to become scarce by the autumn of 2022. That is why the organisation has raised the “tariff quota” for the amount of butter Switzerland can import by 2.000 tons - enough to make over 139 million pieces of shortbread.

Shortage of butter in Switzerland part of a wider trend

The additional capacity is to be shared among entrepreneurs and international companies that import butter from overseas. On average, Switzerland consumes more than 40.000 tons of butter every year.

The shortage is part of a wider trend seen in Swiss food, with farmers warning that the prices of milk, wheat and cheese are all on the rise. A combination of supply issues, inflation and high demand is causing price rises in food across Switzerland.