American retail giant Walmart delivered some outstanding news to consumers, saying that the stock of baby formula in its stores is showing signs of improved availability. That is excellent news for customers after baby formula shortages caused panic for many parents across the United States in recent months.
Walmart's CFO, John David Rainey, made the announcement during an earnings call on Tuesday, August 16. The retail giant said earnings forecasts should now improve over what Walmart had previously anticipated.
Information Resources Incorporated (IRI) data revealed that 20 percent of formula brands were out of stock for the week ending on July 24. The powdered formula had an out-of-stock rate of 30 percent for the week, according to the Denver Channel.
Baby formula shortage to end soon?
Officials had previously announced that it could take weeks for the formula produced at a once-shuttered Abbott plant in Sturgis, Michigan, to reach store shelves. Many expected the shortages to even last through the summer.
Initially, U.S. officials blamed supply chain issues and a recall at Abbott's Michigan plant for the nationwide shortage. Production finally resumed at that troubled facility in July, according to Reuters.
To help address the worsening formula crisis, the federal government arranged at least 17 flights to ship the much-needed formula from overseas to the United States as parents worried they would not get the vital specialty formula types for their infants.
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf said in an interview that the formula shortages could soon ease. He did say, however, that the companies have been producing too many different types of products, causing inefficiencies in the formula market.
Amazon plans to join the lucrative formula market
Politico reported earlier this month that Amazon is looking at opportunities to dive into the lucrative $2 billion per year formula market. The company's in-house lobbyists and senior officials discussed infant formula with federal government officials and lawmakers on Capitol Hill between April and June.
According to Amazon's most recent federal lobbying report, that is the first time it has reported doing so. The company's lobbyists also discussed online purchasing restrictions for federal nutrition benefits, which are used to buy at least half of the United States' formula and other groceries worth billions of dollars.
The e-commerce giant's foray into formula lobbying shows how Amazon stands to benefit from the major industry shake-up that the ongoing shortages have caused. They are particularly looking into the potential of drawing a larger share of the billions in federal dollars that go to programs designed to help close to more than 50 million lower-income Americans.
That could allow Jeff Bezos' company to compete more directly with its biggest e-commerce rival Walmart.com. Amazon and Walmart have spent years jockeying for more access to the federal nutrition programs, especially since the former acquired grocery store chain Whole Foods in 2017.
