One of the most important products for new parents is in short supply. Baby formula, which three-quarters of US babies receive in their first six months, is increasingly selling out at retailers across the country. Prices have also skyrocketed, with the average cost of the most popular baby food products increasing by as much as 18% over the past 12 months.
The supply of infant formula is so limited that retailers like Walgreens even limit how much consumers can buy at one time. A spokesman for the drugstore chain told CBS MoneyWatch it limits customers to three infant and toddler nutrition products per transaction, citing “increased demand and various supplier issues.”
Supply chain issues related to COVID-19 are contributing to US formula shortages. These include manufacturers facing greater difficulties in sourcing key ingredients, packaging issues and labor shortages, all of which combine to hamper production and distribution. Additionally, a major baby formula recall in January exacerbated shortages.
At U.S. retailers, 29% of top-selling baby food products sold out for the week of March 13, according to an analysis by Datasembly, which tracked baby food inventory at more than 11,000 stores. That’s a sharp increase from 11% in November.
“That’s a shocking number that you don’t see in other categories,” Ben Reich, CEO of Datasembly, told CBS MoneyWatch.
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“We’ve tracked it over time and it’s increasing dramatically. We see that this category is more dramatically affected by economic conditions than others,” added Reich.
In 24 US states, 30% of infant formula was out of stock as of mid-March, while other states were experiencing even more severe shortages. In Minnesota at the same time, 54% of baby food products were sold out. Parents in Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, North and South Dakota, Rhode Island and Texas also struggle with severe deficiencies of at least 40%, according to Datasembly.
For comparison, in the first seven months of 2021, between 2% and 8% of baby food products were out of stock.
“We found that a few months ago — two, three months ago — it was difficult to find it, and then just recently we can’t find it,” San Francisco-based Irene Anhoeck told CBS News earlier this year. “We’ve tried all local targets. We’ve checked Costco, Costco online, Walgreens, Long’s. Can’t find it anywhere.”
Product shortages were further exacerbated in February when Abbott Nutrition issued a sweeping recall of its powdered baby food products after reports of illness in infants who had consumed the baby products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning last week urging consumers not to use any of the recalled products made at Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis, Michigan facility after finding that the facility is unhygienic.
Avoid hoarding
The Infant Nutrition Council of America, in a recent statement on its website, reassured parents that manufacturers are increasing production to meet families’ needs. The council also encourages parents to keep a supply or formula at home for 10 days to two weeks and urges them not to stockpile any products.
A CVS Health spokesperson acknowledged that “product supply challenges are affecting most of the retail industry right now.” The company is working with “national baby food suppliers to address this issue and we regret any inconvenience our customers may experience,” the spokesperson added.
In January, Enfamil, a leading baby food brand, said it was able to handle an unprecedented 18% surge in baby food demand nationwide.
“We have taken steps to ramp up production and are currently shipping 50% more product to resolve issues as quickly as possible,” a spokesman for Reckitt, the maker of Enfamil, said in a statement to CBS News at the time.