The Riddle of Prices: Why is One Butter Twice as Expensive as Another?

The shelves of domestic stores are filled with butter with an astonishing range of prices. Some packages are offered for 10 manats, others cost more than 20.

What lies behind this twofold difference in price and how not to become a victim of marketing tricks?

According to nutrition expert Seymur Gafarov, a significant portion of products sold as butter actually have a completely different composition.

"Many products directly indicate on their labels that they are not butter, but consumers, without reading the ingredients carefully, mistakenly purchase them. A prime example of such products is spreads. Their price is usually significantly lower than real butter. These products are offered to consumers in refined and deodorized form, which masks their true composition," explains the expert.

S.Gafarov notes that manufacturers use various additives – both permitted and prohibited – to imitate the taste and consistency of natural products. Real butter should contain 82-85% milk fat and be made exclusively from milk. Given the current cost of raw milk, the price of a quality product cannot be low. According to expert assessment, the cost of real butter in current economic conditions should exceed 15 manats per kilogram.

"In our country, livestock farms have not yet reached the scale capable of satisfying all market demand. The process of transporting raw milk to centralized production facilities, its processing, packaging, and distribution inevitably leads to the fact that a kilogram of quality product cannot cost less than 15-17 manats, and often higher," emphasizes S.Gafarov.

The specialist strongly recommends that consumers carefully study labels before purchasing and give preference only to proven, quality, and reliable brands to avoid becoming victims of unscrupulous manufacturers.

More details in the video report prepared by Xəzər Xəbər: