By Olav Mellingsater - Special to CNN
A higher demand for butter as a result of low-carb diets and increased interest in natural, home-cooked meals is one reason for the shortage, according to Tine, the country's largest farmer-owned dairy cooperative.
A rainy summer reduced the quality of animal feed, decreasing milk production in Norway this year by 20 million liters (5.3 million gallons) compared with the same period last year, the cooperative said.
The Norwegian government has responded to the crisis by reducing tariffs on milk product imports, the country's agricultural authorities said.
But many stores have been rationing how much butter they sell.
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My sister lives over in Norway. Over the weekend, she told us of the shortage caused, remarkably, by diet fads combined with a desire to cook natural type stuff. It is crazy that one of the richest countries on the planet should run out of butter. They could ask our dairy board here in Ireland to help out. Given the state of things, we could do with the business...
The problem is, Norway is not part of the European Union. It can do trade with the EFTA countries – Switzerland, Lichtenstein and Iceland, or with the Nordic Union – Denmark, Finnland, Island and Sweden. The EFTA is used to be quite a big union, but the number of members dwindled due to their joining the E.U.