A spokesperson for Woolworths told BuzzFeed News there is meant to be an eight-can limit per transaction, and that all stores work to guarantee enough stock for customers. Due to increased demand from China, A2’s CEO Geoff Babidge said that his company’s sales are set to triple this year. “Everything is normal with him [now]”, he wrote.
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Consumer group Choice’s Kate Browne said the government needed to urgently act to ensure parents have access to a reliable supply of baby formula.
‘One time, I actually tried to ask the assistant for a clarification as to what was said but she just kept walking with her back turned to me.
A third Taobao seller told customers that even on the Chinese internet, Bellamy’s products were increasingly hard to find. “But recently we have been running out of stock”.
‘China is a country with millions of babies and after the milk formula scandal, I do understand why parents are in desperate need for them, ‘ Ms Leung told Daily Mail Australia.
To the hundreds of complaints, Bellamy’s has with a nearly-identical answer: “We have encountered significant activity by a few people who like to buy our product here from Australian retailers and on-sell it to consumers in China”.
A Woolworths shelf emptied of popular Australian infant formula brands.
As newer entrants in the baby formula market, A2 Platinum and Bellamy’s have found it hard to quickly ramp up production to meet demand.
“There’s not product shortage as much as there is heightened demand by Chinese tourists”, said Peter Nathan, A2’s chief executive for Australia.
Mr Sun said the stockpiling in recent weeks had been caused by a rush of daigou attempting to cash in before the China-Australia Free Trade agreement, which removes import duties on formula and slashes profit margins.
A grey market has gradually established itself, with individuals purchasing baby formula in Australia and posting it to China where it can sell for as much as $100 a tin – a dramatic mark-up, particularly when considering the average wage in China sits well below Australia’s.
Meanwhile, a message on the Bellamy’s Organic website said it expected stock levels to return to normal in Australian supermarkets by the end of November.
“This is all heightened by the [recently scrapped] one-child policy”, Laurenceson said.
The shortage has left Australian parents outraged.
Supermarkets should enforce the limit, at every store.
“They cleared out the whole stock”, she wrote.
Shoppers from China, which eased family planning curbs last month to allow couples to have two children, also benefit from a weak Australian dollar, now hovering near one-month lows. “This is getting beyond a joke”.
Mr Nathan said the company had been exploring a range of options including building its own infant formula factory in Australia to striking a partnership with a local milk processor to produce it under contract.
“There has been an acute shortage of baby formula here”.
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“Booming worldwide demand for our high quality dairy products is great news for our local dairy industry but we must also ensure supply is available locally”, he said.
