Video shows a dozen shoppers running out of Coles in baby formula buying frenzy
A Brisbane mother has filmed almost a dozen people loading trolleys with baby formula likely destined for China’s black market, while a Sydney dad shamed a group doing the same thing a day later.
The woman was shopping at Coles in Sunnybank on Sunday morning, when the shoppers began running from the store with multiple tins in hand.
Footage shows dozens of frenzied shoppers filling their trolleys with the formula.
A photograph from inside shows shelves of the baby formula section almost bare despite signs warning of strict sale restrictions.
A second video emerged on Monday morning, this time showing frantic people stripping shelves of baby formula at a Coles supermarket in western Sydney.
While recording the video shortly after 7am, a man can be heard saying the Wentworth Point shop had only just opened up, as he watched “a group of Chinese grandparents running in”.
In the caption accompanying the video this morning, the dad said Bellamys, A2 and Aptamil stage 1s tins were the first to go.
“My son also drink Bellamys, lucky we still have three cans at home,” he wrote.
Coles, Woolworths restricts baby formula to two tins
Amid the baby formula crisis, major supermarket chains Coles and Woolworths were forced to implement a two-tin restriction on the products to ensure enough stock for all customers.
But the new footage appears to show shoppers are ignoring the restrictions.
“Coles is committed to ensuring our customers have access to infant formula and as a result we are limiting sales quantities to two units per customer,” a spokesperson told Yahoo7 News on Monday morning.”
The retail giant did not respond directly when asked if staff were trained to watch out for people buying two tins and returning in multiple trips. However Coles advised customers to speak directly with their local store manager if they found formula was unavailable in a store.
“We are continually working with our suppliers on solutions to improve availability for customers,” the spokesperson said.
Earlier this month damning footage from a Woolworths store at Oakleigh in Melbourne’s southeast shows a male shopper frantically sorting through a trolley with at least 10 tins of formula inside.
The woman who recorded the video said a group of shoppers were running in and out of the store “at full speed” with their trolleys as they look to manipulate the two tin per transaction limit.
She said the group was even using children “as young as six” to get their hands on as many tins as possible.
Chinese black market linked to Australia’s baby formula crisis
The surge in sales of baby formula has been a controversial subject over the past year, with many shoppers, known as daigous, selling the tins to customers in China for profit.
There is high demand for overseas baby formula in China after the reputation of Chinese produced formula and its quality was badly damaged following a scandal in 2008 which led to the death of six babies.
Popular baby formula tins such as A2, Bellamy’s and Aptamil are worth about $25 to $35 each and are purchased and sold for up to $100 per tin, leaving Australian parents empty-handed.
