Utterly, butterly... scarcity: Apparent shortage of Amul butter rattles customers

Customers flocked, as they always do, to Twitter to complain about the butter unavailability

Man cannot live on bread alone... he needs butter too, it appears.

In recent days, several consumers have been taking to social media to speak out about an unusual food crisis — a butter shortage.

As per multiple news reports, supermarkets, grocery shops, and delivery apps in many Indian states have flagged a shortage in the supply of the 'Amul' brand of butter. This shortage appears to be most acute in the states of Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh.

Bitter over the lack of butter, consumers took to Twitter to complain about the reported shortage. In a tweet, a user claimed, "Amul butter has become extremely difficult to come by on [several platforms and supermarkets]".

Another user wondered if the shortage was an indirect result of lumpy skin disease.

Many also claimed that in the absence of Amul butter, counterfeits have entered the market. "Duplicate butter is being sold everywhere," a user said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, a vendor in Delhi told News18.com that there has been no supply of Amul Butter in the market for the past couple of weeks and that distributors are attributing a "supply shortage" to its lack of availability.

The shortage is affecting overall sales, he said, adding that while there has been no disruption in the supply of Amul milk, the supply of Amul products such as cream and ghee seems to have taken a hit as well.

Confirming the shortage, Amul Managing Director R S Sodhi told News18.com that it could be attributed to the high demand for the product during the Diwali festival. The situation is now "returning to normal", he maintained. "Currently, butter production at Amul is above normal. However, the previous shortage in the pipeline is taking time to fill up. The supply and availability of Amul Butter in the market will be fully normal in 4-5 days," he said.