After last weeks announcement from supermarkets that it will be limiting the amount of baby milk to 2 cartons per customer, lots of stories were ciculated. Which may have caused people to panic buy or worry about what to feed their babies if they run out. Many of our clients cannot afford to buy extra baby milk so will usually run out before they buy more. Hearing about supermarkets limiting sales may put women off buying formula and may be prepared to try Breastfeeding, however, if there was more information on formula feeding for parents to access they could compare the benefits of Breastfeeding and make the right decision for themselves. This doesn’t help when aggressive advertising in the media from the 2 leading Breast milk substitute manufacturers Nestle and Danone causes panic buying of infant formula.
For example, according to (Baby Milk Action 2013).
This marketing war has now reached the UK following Nestlé’s takeover of Pfizer Nutrition/Wyeth in 2012, manufacture of the SMA brand. Both Danone and Nestlé have launched new strategies to promote their products – the former gaining media coverage by claiming individuals in the UK are buying up formula to send to China thus causing a shortage in the UK, the latter taking advantage of any formula panic buying by putting its follow-on formula on prominent price promotion to increase sales.
Are milk companies creating this type of panic to increase its sales. Headlines last week on BBC website were;
“Baby milk rationed in UK over China export fear”
(BBC news online 8th April 2013 Last updated at 19:20)
Nestle have denied any evidence of bulk buying for export (Baby Milk Action 2013)
“We have confirmed that there are sufficient stocks of infant formula for the UK and parents should continue to buy formula milk as usual.”
The Department of 13th April 2013
Some of the women we work with may not even be aware of this in the news as many do not have access to the internet so therefore may not really affect them.
For more information follow the link below
Danone v. Nestle formula marketing war reaches the UK
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