A recent survey conducted by the Consumer Council on the supply and price of infant formulas revealed that the out-of-stock situation was serious in two brands of infant formula. Most of the surveyed formulas have their prices increased at a rate higher than food price inflation rate.
In recent months, the Consumer Council received increased number of complaints regarding the supply of infant formula. Complainants were upset by the out-of-stock situation and also alleged that the retailers increased the price excessively.
The Council received a total of 71 complaints on infant formulas last year. However, in the first two months of this year, 51 cases were received, in which almost 40% (20 cases) pointed to the shortage in supply and about 30% (15 cases) were on the price surge.
Regular surveys on price of infant formulas have been conducted by the Council since April 2009. Every two months, Council staff collects price data of 8 major brands (33 models) of infant formula at 14 designated retail shops all over Hong Kong.
The year-on-year average price comparison of 33 items of infant formulas (prices for April 2009 to February 2010 compared to those for April 2010 to February 2011) showed that 31 of them had increased their average retail prices, with the increase ranging from 0.4% to 12%. Of these, 24 products registered an increase in price higher than the food price inflation rate. And the average price increase of 5 products recorded a hike of more than 10%.
Significant price variations were found with the same formula milk sold in different shops. In the February 2011 survey, a price difference of $58.9, or 43% was noted in one of the surveyed formula milk sold in different shops.
Availability of some brands of infant formula is another serious concern of parents. The out-of-stock rate of one formula milk surveyed was found to be 93% in December last year and 64% in February this year while that for another formula milk was found to be 71% and 46% respectively for the same time.
The Consumer Council is a staunch advocate for breast-feeding. Nevertheless, if parents, for various reasons, choose to feed babies with infant formulas, they are advised to give consideration to factors such as price, type of retail outlet to buy from, and the ease of purchasing the product from different channels on top of suitability of the formulas.
In the past few years, there were many instances of people scrambling for infant formulas from shops. The Council urges the formula suppliers to consider setting up an industry code of practice to ensure adequate supply to local consumers for retailers to follow. Suppliers might resort to drastic measures such as suspending the supply to retail shops which ignore public interest and raise unreasonably the price of infant formulas.
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