France, which has the world’s highest per capita rate of butter consumption, is facing what some are calling #BeurreGate, or buttergate. French supermarkets are running out of butter because they have been unable to raise prices like most other countries. Also, worried consumers have been stocking up on butter during the last few weeks, making the shortage worse.

The price of butter has faced a significant increase this year due to many factors. These factors include the bad weather happening in France, which has lowered the supply of cow feed decreased exports from leading butter producer New Zealand. Additionally, increased global demand has increased the price of butter. The price of a little over 220 lbs of butter has increased from about $527 to just over $791 since January. Finally, as butter has shed some of its unhealthy image, demand has risen worldwide, especially in the United States and China.

While the failing butter supply is a global phenomenon, the shortage is only affecting France. Unlike many other countries, prices are negotiated once a year in France. As a result, the price of butter has barely changed and French producers are choosing to sell their products overseas, where they can get a better price.

Statistics from the International Dairy Federation show that France consumed 18 pounds of butter per capita last year, which is more than twice the European average and three times the rate of consumption in the United States.

The Roman Cathedral is said to have been built in part on the back of butter fees, and even today, the western region of Brittany, salted butter is something of a religion. In an effort to save their precious butter, French news outlets have been giving advice on how to replace butter or how to churn your own. Yet, many French think that cheaper substitutes, like margarine, don’t even compare to butter and do not preserve that quality of their products to the same extent. Industries that use butter, like pastry shops and bakeries, have had no choice but to pay up and, in some cases, to pass on their increased costs. French butter consumers are alarmed by the news reports about the shortage.

“I thought to myself: Not having butter in France, that’s appalling,” Laurence Meyre, a 53-year-old professor shopping in a supermarket in southern Paris, said.

The butter shortage has worried many French citizens , but once their favorite food is restored, their spirits will be lifted once again.