The baby formula shortage that turned into a full-blown crisis in the spring has persisted into the late summer in the United States, with out-of-stock rates hovering at about 28 percent for four weeks now.
Nearly 26 percent of baby formula powder was missing from store shelves in the week leading up to August 7. According to data from the consulting firm IRI Worldwide, the out-of-stock rate the week prior was about 27 percent and 30 percent the week before that.
The formula shortage became a national concern in May, resulting in parents panic-buying limited supplies across America, according to CNBC. According to IRI, sales of powder formula around the week that the shortage first made headlines were nearly 20 percent above their yearly average.
Many American stores limit purchases of formula
Shelley Hughes, the vice president of public relations at IRI, said that this category had relatively flat sales for years, so they had not seen this level of sales volume. She added that it looks like inventory is returning to the levels in late spring before the stockpiling started in May.
IRI's figures cover drug stores and grocery, mass markets including Target and Walmart, military commissaries, and select dollar stores and club stores across the country. Major retailers responded to the worsening formula shortage in the spring by limiting the number of products their consumers can purchase per transaction. For instance, people were limited at CVS to just three units of powder formula at a time, while Target consumers were limited to just four units.
Many stores in the U.S. have kept those purchasing limits in place. A Target spokesperson told the Washington Examiner it is keeping a close eye on the baby formula supply chain and that they will keep online and in-store product limitations intact for the time being.
The baby formula industry needs a shake-up
The stress of being unable to give one's kids the food they desperately need has been a reality for many parents across the country for several months now. The formula shortage had been heating up in the latter half of last year, but it took Abbott's Sturgis plant shutdown last February to reveal how poorly prepared the United States was for a shortage.
Abbott, which accounted for about 40 percent of the formula industry in the country, voluntarily shuttered its Michigan facility in February and recalled its highly popular Similac formulas produced there due to possible contamination with Cronobacter sakazakii, a dangerous bacteria.
The facility reopened on June 4, but just when it seemed things were going back to normal, it had to shut down again less than two weeks after severe storms in the Michigan area triggered flooding at the plant.
The closure revealed the fragility of the baby formula industry in the U.S., which is very concentrated. Four companies, Abbott, Nestle SA, Mead Johnson, and Perrigo, control 90 percent of the formula supply in the country, according to Politico.
