The average 500 gram block has almost doubled in the past 14 months - to more than eight dollars.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis had called on Fonterra's chief executive Miles Hurrell to explain the high costs to the public.
Hurrell says 80 percent of the price of butter is driven by the international market.
He says he appreciates the public might've been expecting there's something they've not communicated, but that's not the case.
