Team of Woolworths shoppers work together to stockpile '100 tins of baby formula'
A Melbourne man claims he witnessed 10 people accumulate about 100 tins of baby formula from a Woolworths supermarket.
Matt Ward was at a shopping centre in Melbourne’s CBD on Sunday when he claims he saw the group in action.
“They all had shopping carts hidden behind a sushi shop outside of Woolworths,” Mr Ward told Yahoo News Australia.
“They would each buy two baby formulas and come out and put the baby formula in the shopping carts.
“This process was repeated time after time. Some of those carts were full, possibly 15-20 in each cart.”
Mr Ward said at one point five people came back with two tins at the same time.
In video uploaded to Facebook, three women are seen leaving the area outside the supermarket with trolleys carrying baby formula.
Mr Ward also included a photo of three trolleys carrying baby formula.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
“They definitely have an efficient system in place. It was very impressive.”
Mr Ward said Woolworths staffers notified security on realising what was happening but most of the shoppers “scattered”.
He added while he doesn’t have children, the stockpiling of baby formula affects friends of his who do.
In a statement to Yahoo News Australia a Woolworths spokesperson reiterated, as they have previously, that the store has a two tin limit for baby formula “to ensure customers have access to stock when they need it”.
“Baby formula stock was available at our QV store over the weekend and remains available today,” the spokesperson said.
“We encourage any parents who find their chosen baby formula is unavailable on the shelves to speak with store management, so we can help get them stock as quickly as possible.”
Woolies stores filmed selling customers multiple tins
In a statement last week, Woolworths said it has a two-tin limit and parents can contact the supermarket if concerns there isn’t enough formula available.
Last week, people were filmed stockpiling the formula by using a sneaky tactic at Brisbane’s Indooroopilly Woolworths. In May video emerged of shoppers appearing to raid Woolworths Chadstone in Melbourne of their baby formula.
In January, shoppers at a Woolworths in Melbourne’s suburb of Box Hill were filmed climbing over each other to get tins.
Just days earlier, more video emerged of shoppers loading trolleys with baby formula at a Coles in Sunnybank, Brisbane.
A Brisbane mum filmed the shoppers running from the store with multiple tins in hand.
In footage uploaded to Facebook in December, a number of people can be seen loading formula into dozens of shopping bags stashed in a corner outside the supermarket at Doncaster East in Melbourne.
The shoppers appear to each drop a bag of two tins of baby formula onto the trolley before grabbing another bag and re-entering the store.
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