The price of a large tub of Lurpak butter – a blend of milk fat and rapeseed oil – has been selling for more than £9 (US$10.7) in some UK supermarkets, the Huffington Post reported.
In Asda supermarkets, the price of Lurpak has risen to £6, (US$7.10) for 750g (£8 or US$9.50/kg) and was also security tagged in some stores, according to the 5 July report.
However, prices for the brand were different in other UK supermarket chains, the report said. For example, on Sainsbury’s online, it was selling for £7.25 (US$8.60) for a 750g tub (£9.67 or US$11.48/kg), while in the Co-op, a 500 tub of Lurpak was on the shelf at £3.50 (US$4.16), (£7kg or US$8.31/kg).
In a statement quoted in a BBC report on 6 July, Lurpak’s owner Arla Foods said that food inflation was currently affecting many households.
“Unfortunately, our farmers are facing a similar situation with prices for the feed, fertiliser and fuel they need to produce milk all rising significantly in recent months,” the company said.
“While we don’t set the prices on the shelves, we do work closely with… retailers to ensure our farmers receive a fair price for the milk they produce.”
Asda said photographs of the butter covered in security tags did not indicate that they were being stolen more often but were an issue in an individual store, the BBC wrote.
The supermarket said its largest pack of Lurpak had been priced around £6 since last year and it was not considered a high value product.
“We’ve no data to suggest it’s being stolen more than anything else or more than it has been in the past,” an Asda spokesperson was quoted as saying by the BBC.
“Asda hasn’t started tagging this product as a rule, individual stores may add tags to products they may have noticed have been going missing.”
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson was quoted by the Huffington Post as saying that the price of each product was down to factors including manufacturer’s costs, but “we are doing all we can to mitigate rising costs where we can”.
Retail analyst Steve Dresser, chief executive of Grocery Insight, told the BBC that high costs for production, energy, fuel and other raw materials at the start of the supply chain were now making their way to the shelf.
