Has anyone else noticed the rising cost of butter? I usually get my butter from BJ's, their store brand, and it's gone from $6.49/4 lbs to $9.99/4 lbs in the ast few months! It's getting so it's not any cheaper than buying in the grocery store. What's going on?

I don't know if there is something going on but it is common for the price to rise as the holidays approach. Probably the retailers anticipating all that holiday baking.

I totally noticed the price going up here in CA.... had sticker shock the last time I made SMBC.

Yep, read an article last week that sugar and butter costs are at likely to continue to increase thru 2011:

http://www.magicvalley.com/business/article_423ce6b0-d4ac-5120-80da-b49fab27c9b1.html

It's not a rise in price due to holiday season, as the previous $6.49 price was stable for a couple years. The article was very interesting - I knew sugar prices were going up, but I didn't know about butter. Guess my cake prices will have to go up too!

I posted about this a few weeks ago. It is unbelievable how high they are going. At my local grocer LOL was 3.99 a pound. I notice they have stopped carrying the European imported butter.

My belief is supply and demand. Cupcakery places across the country are demanding more of these goods, so the cost is going up. I bet you flour will be up soon too. Not only because of demand, but also because of the Russian ban on exporting wheat right now.

I have been purchasing butter at Target I paid 1.88 a pound. Thought I was getting a good deal since the grocery store wanted almost 3.00 a pound.

Yep, I was at Costco 2 days ago and was shocked, butter went from $6.99/4lb to $9.99/4 lb. Definite sticker shock. It was only $5.49 not too long ago when I first started price shopping butter, sugar, flour, etc.

Around here, a good deal now is finding butter for $2.00 or under a pound... I nearly fainted to see it nearly double at a neighboring store but even on sale, at that store's more 'competitively priced competitor', $2.50 for a pound is now the sale price...

But then I've been noticing a LOT of things rising in cost, FAST the past couple years... doubling in some cases... part of me wants to believe it's because I'm getting older and everything's gone up but it's just not the case... items are also shrinking (no more half gallons of ice cream, except for a couple local dairies in our area that still carry them) but the price didn't go down when they went to 1 1/2 quarts... I'm wondering how long it'll be until sticks of butter start shrinking.

What about whipping cream?? I almost had a stroke when I saw a container of heavy whipping cream was over $6.00 This really stinks.

sigh...
Last fall I stocked up on store brand butter when it was on sale for $.98/lb..this week it's on sale for $2.88/lb.

Ugh.

Even at Aldi the price of butter is going up fast!! Sheesh!!

lol, you know it's bad when Aldi is getting expensive.

You aren't kidding!! Just in the past year my grocery bill at Aldi has gone up about $40.00. Same stuff just higher prices. Oh and they changed their shortening to a transfat free, that po'd me big!!

A couple of years ago, I paid 52p for a 250g pack of butter.

It's slowly risen and risen until, recently, it was 86p for a 250g pack.

It's just gone up again to 98p a pack... and that's the 'economy / value' butter. Better brands are a lot more!

I wonder if using local butter would be cheaper? I know that I can buy from a local dairy close by but I'm not sure about the comparison in price...

Speaking of rising grocery cost, this morning on the Today show I saw "The Cheapest Family in America". She got $350 in groceries for $198!!!!!! They just came out with a book and I'm thinking I'll be picking it up

If you're really hard core, you can make your own:

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/homemade-butter-2/Detail.aspx

I'm too lazy to do that though.

Edit to add-if you look at the reviews, it looks like it's much tastier and more cost-effective than buying it in the store. But I'm still too lazy!