In part, this is simply supply and demand as more people than ever before are buying milk products.

The big new market is Asia, where people are not only wealthier, their diets are also becoming increasingly westernised.

And as more global consumers drive local prices up, it is changing the way we are shopping and even baking, with many opting for the cheaper alternative of margarine, or finding the cost of baking too prohibitive and simply given up altogether.

But one of the country’s best known cooks, Alison Holst, is urging all of us not to give up on the tradition just because the price of butter is high.

Source: TV3