The Chronicle

BULAWAYO, Saturday, August 24, 1991 — The current shortage of butter in the country has been blamed on the limited milk supply to the Dairy Marketing Board this winter, compounded by the increased demand for liquid milk as a substitute for beef.

Furthermore, the shortage has forced the parastatal to suspend butter exports.

According to a statement in the Press yesterday, the DMB said milk supplies to its depots during this winter season had not been sufficient to ensure adequate supplies of butter. It said the surplus milk available for butter manufacture had been further reduced by the high demand for liquid milk and lacto due to drought in some parts of the country and a greater demand for Super Lacto as a substitute relish following the increase in the prices of beef. Another factor which contributed to the shortage, the statement said, was the shortage of vegetable oil-based spreads and cooking oil in the early part of the year which resulted in substantial increased demand for butter.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the parastatal said they stopped butter exports to Botswana and other countries early this year, but could not comment on the monetary effects of the suspension on the parastatal. Asked to comment on the allegations that Zimbabwean butter was being sold in Botswana, the spokesman said the allegations were not true and added that what the people had seen on the shelves might have been from last year’s stocks or was being supplied by South Africa.