Farmi and Tere board member Ülo Kivine explained that the shortage of cream is due to Estonia's hot and dry summer: "It has been raining for weeks, but Estonia's large herds are still mostly indoors on farms and therefore there is simply less fat in the milk." 

Kivine said that if, for example, an Estonian cow produces approximately 60 kilos of butter each month in winter, it drops to around 48-50 kilos in summer.

"Traditionally, milk is fattier in the summer and there has been a shortage of cream every summer for the last few years," said Prisma supermarket's communications manager Kertu Kärk. 

In July, Farmi and Tere's parent company Nordic Milk also updated its milk production machines which has led to a drop in volume.

As most supermarkets in Estonia sell domestically produced butter, a shortage has arisen this summer. Almost all producers have reported supply difficulties.

"This has created a situation where in stores you can find holes on the shelves, where there should normally be butter," Coop's communications manager Martin Miido said.

Kärk said this is not only an Estonian problem: "This year, the deficit of cream in Estonia is particularly large, because the world market also has a shortage of cream and the demand is high."

Kivine said there was a similar cream shortage in Estonia in 2017 and customer behavior can worsen the situation.

"Deficit and scarcity can also create a moment in people's lives where, if there is butter, they take not the usual one or two packs, but many more," he said, explaining shoppers' behavior.  

Other dairy products also affected

Whole milk and heavy cream have also been affected by the shortage, and prices of sour cream, whipping cream and coffee cream have risen as a result.

Coop placed an extraordinary order of butter from Latvia and Lithuania to solve the problem.

Miido said: "Now I'm really happy to tell everyone that this week these products will be restocked and the situation in stores will return to normal."

Kivine said the shortage should be resolved in the coming weeks when the weather is no longer so dry.

However, Prisma's communications manager Kertu Kärk believes the shortage could last for several more months.

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