The Polish government announced that it will release 1,000 tonnes (t) of butter from its strategic reserves in response to the rising cost of the dairy product.

The government agency in charge of maintaining necessary supplies of key consumer products said that it will sell the butter from its own reserves.

The sale was scheduled to begin on 19 December, with minimum bids for 20t.

The price of butter has become a political touchstone in Poland recently, a country which saw inflation close to 20% in 2023. The opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party says the price of butter is a symbol of the failings of the government, while the governing Civic Platform party says that the price of butter is a result of the polices implemented under the previous PiS government.

Wider issue

While it might be national politics driving the conversation, there is no denying that the rising price of butter is a wider issue.

EU data shows that butter prices in the region had risen more than 40% in the year to the start of December (see Figure 1).

Polish officials, when announcing the release of the butter, noted the global increase in prices which they said has been primarily driven by “a shortage of milk”.

It is unclear yet how much different the release of the 1,000t from Poland’s strategic reserve will have to the longer-term trend for butter prices in the country, but it certainly is interesting that Poland has a strategic butter reserve at all.