These are not good times for sobao pasiego. Despite its tradition, its Cantabrian roots and the industry’s Protected Geographical Indication seal, Valles Pasiegos sponge cake producers have found themselves with an unexpected enemy: butter, the same that helps make this cake world-wide. symbol of the region. As its price reached historic highs internationally, companies dedicated to producing sobao were doomed to suffer heavy cost overruns.

Their situation is so complicated that in October the regional government decided to come to their aid with an “extraordinary” €600,000 plan.

Is Sobao pasiego in crisis? Yes, neither its tradition, nor its fame, nor its roots in Cantabria allowed the makers of the popular sponge cake to avoid the difficult situation into which one of its ingredients put them: butter. The regional government recognized this in October, announcing a €600,000 plan designed to enable 13 companies operating under the IGP Sobao Pasiego seal in Cantabria to “maintain their operations.”

“They saw how in the last three years they were exposed to strong inflation, which intensely affected all production costs,” recalled María Jesús Susinos, Minister of Rural Development and Food. The impact of this price increase was not limited to factories only. The consultant warned that, as Susinos himself recalled, at least some of this was transferred to sales prices, which “made the product more expensive in the sales establishments.”

But… Why? In its statement announcing the aid plan, the Cantabrian Government does not mention any specific costs, but other parties such as the Regionalist Party (PRC) or the companies themselves have focused their attention on one of the key resources for For. Preparation of sobaos: butter. To be more precise about its price, it is immersed in a crazy upward spiral.

“Before the pandemic it was around 2.5 or 3 euros at most, now it is 10 euros,” Fernando Fernández of Casa ‘El Macho recently explained to Cuatro. Another professional in the industry, José Manuel Carral from Sobaos Joselín, shared an even more interesting fact: “On butter alone, we have over half a million euros in extra costs.” The businessman admitted that they are therefore now mainly focused on ending the year “in the best way we can”.

What is the solution? The PRC also highlights the “exorbitant” prices of cow’s milk fat. “Currently, the biggest problem in the industry is the scarcity and high price of butter, one of the essential and distinctive components of the quality of sobao pasiego,” the party reasoned.

Although pleased with the €600,000 in aid given to producers, the PRC insisted it was “insufficient” and the real issue was that Cantabria had “completely lost” the ability to supply itself with butter. Therefore, he advocates “exploring ways to promote production in line with the needs of IGP Sobados Pasiegos and planning the necessary support.”

Has butter become this expensive? Yes a lot. Although it is not a new trend. The price increase has been making headlines for months. In the summer, it was stated that in five years the cost of butter had increased by over 70%, even exceeding that of gold. Last July, the ton exceeded $6,500 in auctions held on the Global Dairy Trade platform operated by Fonterra.

The Italian company Clal, which publishes tables containing wholesale prices of butter in the Western European market and internationally, also reflects that its current price, with fluctuations, is much higher than the beginning of 2024. In particular, its last published value (as of November 8) is between 7,500 and 8,300 euros per tonne, below the 8,000-8,600 range reached at the end of September, but far from 5,500 euros at the beginning of 2024.

So what is the reason? Analyzes of deviations in butter prices often point to a combination of factors rather than a single cause. Which one? The decline in milk production worldwide, high costs for farmers, the war in Ukraine, extreme climatic events, the shift of resources to more profitable products, the decline in butter stocks or, in the case of the USA, the impact of bird flu. There are those who look at the market where butter is taking up some of the gap left by palm oil.

This is not a problem specific to Sobados Pasiegos products or Cantabria. It’s not even from Spain. A few weeks ago, Reuters published an analysis explaining that after a significant increase in prices of over 80%, candy producers are welcoming Christmas by keeping an eye on the price of one of its key ingredients. The agency acknowledged that the cost of butter would likely fall as production increases, driven by current prices, but warned that this trend could continue for months.

What about Cantabria? There are also those who focus on the low production of butter in a region such as the People’s Republic of China, which interestingly has a deep-rooted milk tradition. “In Cantabria, butter is produced for trade, but not as a raw material, which means it is purchased from outside,” PRC’s Guillermo Blanco said recently. “There are growing industries in Cantabria, but nothing on butter,” they explain to Cuatro from the Cudaña farm.

Carral himself admits that he sources his supplies from Asturias or France. And he warns: “The only fat that can be used” in stoves is butter, which is between 23% and 29%. For now, producers have been relieved with an “extraordinary and exceptional” aid of 600 thousand euros for the value of the product and the sector, both on the market and at the social level.

Pictures | Wikipedia (Tamorlan), Alina Bordunova (Unsplash) and the European Commission

in Xataka | Russia masters European cheese making. And this is due to Western sanctions