Kerrygold shrinks its butter blocks as costs rise

Irish dairy brand Kerrygold has cut the size of its butter blocks by 20%, from 250g to 200g, in a move that has been rolled out across major UK supermarkets since September 2025. The change is a classic case of « shrinkflation »: products get smaller, while shoppers do not always notice straight away.

Ornua, the company behind Kerrygold, explained the decision as a response to « sustained cost pressure in the dairy sector ». The firm’s operating profit had fallen sharply, from 14.5 million pounds to 8 million pounds in the year to December 2024, partly because of volatile milk prices.

How the change was phased in mattered a lot for shoppers’ wallets. At Tesco, Ocado and Sainsbury’s, the price per gram stayed roughly the same, meaning customers paid proportionally less for the smaller pack. But at Asda and Waitrose, the full price was kept, so the price per gram jumped by more than 25%. At Morrisons, the price per 100g rose from 1.16 to 1.30 pounds, a 12.1% increase.

Kerrygold is not the first big butter brand to shrink its packaging. Arla did the same with its Lurpak and Anchor ranges back in April 2023, also citing cost-of-living pressures. Ornua insists that, despite the smaller blocks, « Kerrygold continues to offer strong value and choice across the full range ».

For consumers, the lesson is simple: checking the price per 100g, not just the price on the shelf, is now the only reliable way to compare value for money between supermarkets.

Adapted from The Grocer, September 2025