Southland bakery shops overseas as NZ butter price rockets
If the bakery is making large quantities of butter shortbread to order, that increases the requirements.
She said buying butter directly from New Zealand dairy companies was too expensive, despite Southland being one of the country's biggest dairy-producing regions.
Kaye's instead uses an Australian broker to buy all its butter wholesale, which Penniall described as 'crazy'.
'I work with a company out of Australia,' she said.
'It seems crazy, but it's too hard to buy off New Zealand butter companies. You need to be buying more than 10 tonnes to get a reasonable price.
'I'll get supplied either Australian or New Zealand butter, but out of an Australian broker.'
Penniall preferred to support New Zealand farmers, but said she used Australian butter when it cost less.
'There's no difference in New Zealand and Australian butter from a manufacturing perspective. The texture, the taste, the performance, it's all good.'
In a quest to lower its ingredient costs, Kaye's recently put butter from the United States on the table in a trial.
'We were offered butter out of America,' Penniall said.
'We checked the specs, and it was really a lot cheaper, like $3 a kilo.
'But it turned out the water content was actually a lot higher, which would have been a disaster for us in manufacturing.'
She would not use margarine because customers bought Kaye's biscuits for their buttery quality.
The company was now grappling with price rises for all its key ingredients, and that cost would have to be passed on soon, she said.
'We do struggle with the cost of butter.
'Go back to 2022, only three years ago, we were paying around $11 per kilo, and now we're paying $14, if not $15 a kilo.
'We do thousands and thousands of butter shortbreads for our brand and for other brands, and it makes it expensive because the customer wants the quality.'
She doesn't see the cost of butter coming down soon.
'I think it's the new way of that particular dairy product.'
At this week's Global Dairy Trade Auction, the price of butter fell 1.5%, to US$7821/MT, after hitting a record high of US$7992/MT at the previous auction earlier this month.
The strength of world prices means dairy farmers are poised to receive record payouts of at least $10 a kilo of milksolids.
Stats NZ data shows butter prices have increased significantly over the past year, with prices up more than 65% in the 12 months to April.
- RNZ
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
an hour ago
- Otago Daily Times
Call for tourism infrastructure focus
A Queenstown tourism leader is calling for a greater focus on infrastructure funding over tourism promotion as the government looks to increase visitor demand. Destination Queenstown chief executive Mat Woods made the comments after the government announced the $13.5 million accrued in the past year from the international visitors' levy would be going into attracting an extra 72,000 visitors into the country over the next year. "I have nothing against Tourism New Zealand. They're doing a brilliant job at what they're mandated to do, which is to induce demand. "We acknowledge that the government is using the levy money for that, but we think of that as a short-term solution. "Long-term, that funding should come from the consolidated funds which is tax or GST take and that [the levy] should be used for 50% conservation and 50% mixed-use tourism infrastructure, which is what it was originally set up for." Mr Woods said he understood the announcement was part of a multi-pronged government approach to tourism. "I'm optimistic that there is room in the tourism growth road map to look at both supply and demand. "So if you think about at the moment we are generating demand which I understand as a country we need to be doing that because we're still at 86% of pre-Covid. "Unfortunately in Queenstown that's not the case." Mr Woods said Queenstown's visitor arrivals were 145% higher than 2019, largely due to an increased flight network. "First and foremost, domestic New Zealand has been visiting Queenstown and Wanaka, whether they're flying in or driving in. "Secondly, we have great air connectivity ... the Australian market being our most important international market and so Queenstown is the only airport that actually has all four airlines — that's Air New Zealand, Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin." Mr Woods said there was a need to look at infrastructure to sustain any more growth in the region. "Infrastructure is one of those clear pain points that we have in Queenstown. You can really feel that — particularly around roading, for example. "There's a lot of congestion at the moment so I think that's a really key issue." He also called for a National Tourism Development Authority, which would analyse the infrastructure need across all regions. "If you think about most other departments you always look at supply and demand. In New Zealand we don't do that. We just have Tourism New Zealand as the crown entity to create demand generation and they do a great job of that but how do we balance that at a nationwide level?" Minister for the South Island James Meager said the legislation surrounding the visitors' levy "outlines, I think, about four different criteria". "So, it is rough split 50-50 conservation and tourism. "And in the tourism space, it is both infrastructure but also marketing. "It allows ministers to invest the funding in a way which best suits the current economic conditions, which is growth." Asked whether the government should make a special exemption for Queenstown, Mr Meager said it was a "a good argument". "It's not just the tourism picture though, isn't it? You've got 3million visitors, but you've also got a town which is growing rapidly and so you've got to accommodate all the transport infrastructure issues that are actually coming in from around Franklin, Ladies Mile, all the way up there. "There's that big investment from NZTA going in at the moment. That will make a difference around the edges ... "The issue is where do we get the money from? You get the money from growing the environment."
Otago Daily Times
3 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Catnip wines designed for anxious cats and dogs
Muttley's Estate is named for director John Roberts' childhood dog, and offers a range of different strength pet wines made from catnip. The non-alcoholic beverages can be enjoyed by cats and dogs, and even people, though it is not recommended just yet. Roberts said the wines were inspired by ''dog beers'', which are usually made from bone broth. He wanted something felines could also enjoy. Cats prefer the lighter taste of whites such as Champawgne and Prosecatt while the deeper blends such as the Purrno Noir and Pawt are popular with dogs. ''With the growing international interest in catnip and the 'humanification' of pet diets, it was a natural extension to explore the development of a premium beverage for pet owners to celebrate with their pets.'' Roberts said the catnip wines also helped reduce stress in pets - catnip is a mood enhancer for cats and makes them more playful, while for dogs it helps them relax. ''We created the range to help alleviate some of the modern stressors on pets, but unlike conventional wines, our products contain zero alcohol.'' The range offers multiple varietals, each featuring a different concentration of catnip: lighter whites such as the Champawgne appeals more to cats, while the deeper blends such as the Purrno Noir and Pawt are popular with dogs, Mr Roberts said. Despite having launched less than a year ago, he was now looking to expand into the United States and was working with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to identify distributors in overseas markets. ''We believe the reputation of New Zealand's wine sector in North America will help us establish an entry into this market and we now actively looking for US distributors.'' Mr Roberts said catnip was a resilient crop which grew well in his part of East Auckland. He said the commercial-scale farming of catnip would further diversify New Zealand's horticultural sector. Global demand for catnip is rising, driven by pet product manufacturers and natural health industries. The catnip essential oil market is projected to grow by almost 6% each year by 2030 to reach $400 million. ''We'd love to see entire fields of catnip grown right here. The idea that we could turn a small backyard experiment into a nation-wide horticultural endeavour, and share it with pet lovers worldwide, is really exciting. It's a chance for New Zealand to do something fresh and unexpected - yet again.'' Muttley's Estate is also looking at developing a variety for human consumption. - RNZ
Otago Daily Times
3 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Catnip wines designed for anxious cats and dogs
The non-alcoholic beverages can be enjoyed by cats and dogs, and even people, though it is not recommended just yet. Roberts said the wines were inspired by ''dog beers'', which are usually made from bone broth. He wanted something felines could also enjoy. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Cats prefer the lighter taste of whites such as Champawgne and Prosecatt while the deeper blends such as the Purrno Noir and Pawt are popular with dogs. ''With the growing international interest in catnip and the 'humanification' of pet diets, it was a natural extension to explore the development of a premium beverage for pet owners to celebrate with their pets.'' Roberts said the catnip wines also helped reduce stress in pets - catnip is a mood enhancer for cats and makes them more playful, while for dogs it helps them relax. ''We created the range to help alleviate some of the modern stressors on pets, but unlike conventional wines, our products contain zero alcohol.'' The range offers multiple varietals, each featuring a different concentration of catnip: lighter whites such as the Champawgne appeals more to cats, while the deeper blends such as the Purrno Noir and Pawt are popular with dogs, Mr Roberts said. Despite having launched less than a year ago, he was now looking to expand into the United States and was working with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to identify distributors in overseas markets. ''We believe the reputation of New Zealand's wine sector in North America will help us establish an entry into this market and we now actively looking for US distributors.'' PHOTO: SUPPLIED Mr Roberts said catnip was a resilient crop which grew well in his part of East Auckland. He said the commercial-scale farming of catnip would further diversify New Zealand's horticultural sector. Global demand for catnip is rising, driven by pet product manufacturers and natural health industries. The catnip essential oil market is projected to grow by almost 6% each year by 2030 to reach $400 million. ''We'd love to see entire fields of catnip grown right here. The idea that we could turn a small backyard experiment into a nation-wide horticultural endeavour, and share it with pet lovers worldwide, is really exciting. It's a chance for New Zealand to do something fresh and unexpected - yet again.'' Muttley's Estate is also looking at developing a variety for human consumption. - RNZ
