Govt won’t intervene in formula shortage

Chinese buyers are reported to be buying formula in Australia for 25 dollars and selling it in China for up to 190 dollars.

“We understand at this time, it is hard to source our range of products and acknowledge the frustration this causes for our Bellamy’s mums and dads”, said the company, which is owned by Australian-listed Bellamy’s Australia.

After Hong Kong and Britain adopted enforced rationing in 2013, Australian sales of baby formula have soared, as Chinese visitors exploit the safety concerns over domestic products to offload Australian purchases at mark-ups as high as 500 percent.

She said it is the only formula that her daughter Kairi can use.

“We do very well in terms of initiation – depending on which area of Australia up to 96 per cent of women will start breastfeeding and the majority of women know how important breastfeeding is for their babies, so most will start”, she said.

Demand for high quality products perceived as safe by Chinese customers has grown rapidly in recent years, following an incident in 2008 when children died from drinking contaminated Chinese formula.

The toxic chemical, used in plastics and fertiliser, was added to the formula by unscrupulous manufacturers to mask low protein levels in watered down formula.

Supermarkets and pharmacies in those countries have largely managed to meet demand by temporarily limiting the number of tins consumers could buy while formula manufacturers increased their production.

‘Since the news broke, I have felt increasingly pressure coming from the looks of people who walk by the baby aisle – especially the supermarket staff and other parents. The company already exports to China, but despite that a few Chinese still prefer to buy what they need from Australian retailers to ensure they are buying authentic products.

Bellamy admits that a third of its sales in Australia are actually servicing the Chinese market.

“This is all heightened by the [recently scrapped] one-child policy”, Laurenceson said.

And while Woolworths isn’t new to social media outrage, the controversy has taken on an global flavour as the baby formula sold in Australia makes its way to a new destination: China.

According to The Age, a Facebook user shared the viral photo on to Woolworths’ page, saying: “We are in a formula shortage and you are allowing this?!” Supermarkets should enforce the limit, at every store.

“They cleared out the whole stock”, she wrote.

However, not all brands were out of stock. “They’re really all very much the same, and the differences between formulas are very minor”.

“We are simply not getting enough formula supplied and we have to service all of our customers”, Mr Durkan said.

Most brands of formula are still available to buy online even if the products are not available in stores.

Its recommended retail price is $24.70.Bellamy’s Australia has now apologised to its customers, many of whom have been unable to find cans of formula in their local supermarket.’I would like the government to intervene, ‘ Ms Leung told Daily Mail Australia.’The chemists should not hike up the prices either.

“That, I think, is going to continue to drive demand”.