..to think milk formula companies shouldn't price-fix?

[gallicgirl]

We initially used Aptamil as we believed the drippy nurse who told us it was most like breast milk, then had reflux issues to swapped to SMA staydown milk which was slightly less than the Aptamil I think. Now been prescribed infant gaviscon so we've swapped to normal SMA. The first few tins we bought were around the £7.50 mark so we were pleased that we were spending a bit less. Every penny counts and all that.

However, just been to buy some more formula and it was £8.99 in Morrisons. It was also £8.99 in Tesco yesterday. Just checked online and it's £8.99 at Sainsbury's, Asda and Boots (obviously it's more in Mothercare). When I've bought the SMA before it's been slightly different prices in different shops. I know food prices have gone up and shops can't offer discounts and the like, but I'm suspicious that it's exactly the same price in every store.

It's a 20% price rise!!! I can't believe that wholesale costs have risen that much.

Ahhh talk about lobbing a hand grenade in here....you know you will get a shedload of sanctimonious comments about how you should have breastfed now dont you!

BOOOOOOM!!!!

I was horrified to find the sharp increase in SMA price the other day too (I'm also a horrible parent who chose to deprive my child of mothernature's best source of nourishment ) I haven't checked if the other brands have gone up too.

We go through a tin and a half a week so whilst it's not a massive amount of money things are already tight because i'm on maternity pay (i'm also one of those evil women that plans to dessert my child by returning to work ).

I didn't see anything in the news as you would expect with this sort of price hike.

I've found that the price of aptamil varies from shop to shop, its about 50p cheaper in asda than the co-op so it can't be all formulas.

I agree, I think formula costs a bloody fortune, I also think it is disgusting that parents are penalised when they can't breastfeed they are forced to pay extortionate prices in order to feed their newborns

hipp seems pretty cheap by comparison.

I know and I tried but I hope people answer the question rather than judge. There's plenty of evidence in my posting to show I asked for enough help from the forum at the time.

Looks a bit weird when the price is the same everywhere! I have to pay it so not going to moan about that as such - just think the huge rise is unjustified and wondering if it's just SMA or all companies are the same.

Well, that's a pretty big accusation as price fixing is a criminal offence. If you have evidence it is going on you should report it to the Office of Fair Trading.

They are like any other company

They want to make profits

It is a multi billion pound industry world wide

I agree it is expensive -

It might encourage more breastfeeding in poorer 'pockets'.

Why don't you buy it via your baby clinic? Far cheaper that way - they get it direct from the manufacturer.

Incidentally - most products have RRP

Making formula more expensive won't encourage more breats feeding

Better support, trained HCPS etc would

But that's a whole different debate

One of the reasons I chose Farleys when DS3 was a baby, hes 3 now was it was the cheapest. He then ended up on prescription formula milk for reflux which was a bit of a nightmare for him and us but a boon as I could get it free on the other hand. Which was just as well as Heinz did a fancy rebranding of it and prices went up about £2 a tin.

Not allowed to discount it, precisely to encourage bf
Think the price is fixed by regulation
I know when Boots have 3 for 2 on baby stuff, first stage formula is excluded, for eg
V steep increase though

I don't get the post about parents being penalised because they can't breastfeed. You've got many more years ahead of having to pay to feed your child. How would the government distinguish between those who chose to bottlefeed and those who couldnt breastfeed if costs of formula were lowered for those who couldnt bf?

trois an RRP is just that - recomended. Any manufacturer that insists retailers do not sell below the RRP are breaking the law.

I always wondered why no supermarket do 'own brand' formula. Or do they? I am well beyond infant feeding now.

Himalaya- in the uk, the manufacture of formula milk is heavily regulated. In countries where it isn't as tightly regulated, there have been cases of non food substances added to bulk out the formula to appear correct which has had a really detrimental affect on the children fed it. Starting up the manufacture is therefore made extremely difficult and most people would not find it profitable so not worth making a cheaper formula.

@hogsback - no evidence of all at price fixing. Just seems weird that the price used to vary and now it's the same everywhere. I don't know what the wholesale cost is so maybe previously supermarkets cut into their own profits and with the rebrand they've decided not to do that any longer and use the RRP.

@troisgarcons - what do you mean by buying it from baby clinic? Do you mean the clinics the health visitors run? They've never mentioned that this is possible.

It doesnt encourage breastfeeding in poorer pockets as they get milk/healthy start vouchers.
Even if they didnt why should the poor be hit hardest for making a choice that is right for them?

@youngwoman - I carried on with SMA as I thought it would cause least disruption after using their staydown milk. I looked at Hipp but I don't think it was cheaper (well, it might be now!!) because it was only 800g rather than the 900g from other companies.

When I used to buy Aptamil 3 years ago it was £7.98 in every shop. Each tin lasted about a week. It used to infuriate me how expensive it was, until you realise that there aren't many family members who could be fed for a tenner a week. When you think of it like that, it's not so bad.

I'm not hopeful about bf this time either so I daresay I'll be back on the baby milk aisle.

Just checked on Tesco.com and SMA is 8.99 and C&G is 7.55, Hipp was more as their tins are 100g less in weight. I have always used SMA so bought it out of habit in readiness for this baby, but I will be keeping an eye on it and may end up changing as that is a huge price difference.

Encourage breastfeeding in poorer pockets? Even if i was on the barebones of my arse it wouldn't change the fact that i nearly died in childbirth and was incapable of breastfeeding when i lost so much blood my body couldn't produce anything so had to use formula!!! I'm very grateful that the prices are so ridiculous to punish those who don't breastfeed encourage people to breastfeed.