Butter

In 2010/11, Australia produced 122,500 tonnes of butter and anhydrous milkfat (AMF) or butteroil in commercial butter equivalent terms (CBE) – a 5% decrease on the previous year as manufacturers changed their product mixes to take advantage of strong international milk powder prices.

Butter and AMF production (tonnes)

AMF is butter with the water removed. It is primarily produced for export and domestic food processing applications, such as bakery and confectionery. While these sectors also use butter, the majority of domestic butter sales are through retail and foodservice outlets.

The introduction of spreadable butters and vegetable oil-based dairy blends, which are easier to spread and lower in saturated fat, has helped to stabilise domestic market sales in the last two decades, after a sustained decline through the 1970s and 1980s.

Nevertheless, Australia’s total retail market for tablespreads has generally shrunk over the past decade. Consumer concerns about margarine consumption have meant a continuing decline in share; with dairy spreads taking further retail market share from margarine. This has been a continuing trend over the decade, as dairyspreads’ share of the category has steadily increased from 30% in 2000/01 to 45% by the end of the decade.

See Domestic Sales Summary for more details on supermarket sales of butter.