Woman photographs ‘organised ring’ stocking up on baby formula at Coles

DESPITE the Coles policy, everywhere Belinda turned customers were sneaking items by the dozen through the self-check-out.

A SYDNEY mum doing her shopping was furious when she spotted customers sneaking dozens of tins of baby formula through the self serve checkout.

Belinda*, a mum of two was shopping in Coles at Broadway, in Sydney’s inner west on Sunday evening.

“My mother was with me and she said ‘let’s go back up and stop the other couple at the car’,” she told Kidspot.

“But I had to say to her ‘we just can’t as there really are too many — we’ll just see another group and we’ll be here all night!’”

Belinda says there were a large number of these people, who were on a mission to purchase as much formula as they possibly could.

“Not to exaggerate but there would have been easily 20 individuals purely buying formula that night — in that one hour. Seriously they were everywhere — no wonder staff can’t keep up!” she explains.

“Even the security guard was saying it’s a daily occurrence that they have to escort people out and strip formula at registers when they refuse.”

One of at least 20 people that Belinda saw scamming the system at Coles in Broadway. Source: Supplied

Coles and Woolworths have been forced to introduce a four-tin per customer policy following a massive shortage of baby formula at least two years ago.

When the shortage was as its peak — Coles had to restrict it to only two tins per customer.

The reason for the dire shortage is likely due to ‘Daigou’, people who buy products in Australia and onsell it to China for inflated prices.

Baby formula is a popular product, as Australian products are believed to be safe to give babies. There was a milk scandal in China in 2008 which sparked an ongoing food safety scare in that country.

The Australian government told Kidspot at the time that it couldn’t intervene in the country’s snowballing baby formula crisis unless people attempt to export more than 10kg at a time.

The staff can’t possibly monitor the amount of people stocking up and using the self checkout to sneak the tins out the door. Source: Supplied

So here we are two years later and it seems nothing has changed — and local mums and dads are still struggling to get their hands on the formula tins of formula for their little ones.

When Belinda shared what she witnessed just three days ago on Facebook — the reaction was overwhelming.

“I see so many messages on Facebook of mums desperately searching for their formula brand when their child will not take anything else. They often share, reach out and tell other mums when they find some brands but really when is this going to stop?” she asks.

“I have had many friends whose children simply don’t drink just any formula and will not feed at all until the formula is found. They have resorted to sending extended family to other areas and asking relatives on the other side of Sydney to look locally.”

The shelves were cleaned out two years ago across most supermarkets. Source: Herald Sun

Belinda also experienced this unwanted stress herself when her first son had a milk protein allergy and was on prescription formula until he was weaned up to dairy.

“We needed to move to Allerpro which is a formula that has broken down protein. When I couldn’t find this it was distressing and again quite popular with the Asian market. I was lucky to have a local, very small pharmacy that ordered and held the formula for me,” she says.

“Also, I had to buy a different formula at Coles just on Sunday night as mine was sold out. I’m lucky my youngest will adapt and drink another formula.”

And meanwhile — the supermarket staff can’t keep on top of policing how many tins walk out their doors.

Belinda alerted a female employee about what she saw going on — and although the woman had finished her shift, she was happy to stand at the formula shelves because she is “just so tired of it”.

“She said they are just struggling to manage the situation, she quite often gets verbally abused and has to get security — she said they are waiting when she arrives to open the store at 6am,” Bianca was told.

“She has caught the same people who come every morning, changing clothes and coming back in for more at 8am after being stripped of formula. They even hold stock so that they can try and release it gradually to keep stocks up for mothers.”

Belinda believes as the matter was just too out of control to be policed — there seemed to be only one option to stop the formula being exported for a profit.

“Unfortunately, I think there are groups that must be working for a larger syndicate — that then send volumes overseas,” she says.

“Perhaps fining individuals could work but it is near impossible when they are monitoring staff shift changes and returning with different clothing.

“I do believe after seeing Sunday night that formula will need to be placed behind counters with a centralised system that records ID.”

Coles statement on the issue:

“Due to supply issues, we have a number of infant formula lines that may not be available in all stores. Coles is committed to ensuring our customers have access to these products and as a result we are temporarily limiting sales quantities to four units per customer.

“In circumstances where parents have a genuine need for additional tins, obviously we will take that into account. We apologise to customers for any inconvenience.”

Woolworths policy:

All Woollies stores have technology at the check-outs so customers are not able to ring up more than four cans of baby formula in one transaction.

“Woolworths understands the frustration that our customers can feel when they are unable to buy the products they need, particularly baby formula,” a Woolworths spokesperson said.

“We have reduced our purchase limit on baby formula from eight cans to four cans to help increase availability for our customers.”

*Name changed for privacy reasons

This article originally appeared on Kidspot.