'Disgusted' mum reveals Coles shoppers' obvious tactic to bulk buy baby formula
An outraged mother exposed has the tactic some Coles customers use to get their hands on the maximum amount of baby formula.
Due to the sale of baby formula online being a lucrative business, most supermarkets having a strict quota on how many tins one customer can buy per transaction.
On Monday, a Victorian mum posted a picture on the Coles Facebook page, exposing how some shoppers get around these restrictions.
“Every morning at Coles Rowville store where Chinese buyers line up to buy their two cans per transaction of baby formula then promptly re-join thee back of the queue to buy more again,” the woman alleges.
“It’s disgusting that Coles allow this, even aid it by keeping stacks of formula tins behind the counter ready to go.
“Not to mention clogging up the only two open registers at that hour in the morning.”
According to the woman who shared the photo, Coles customers who line up each morning to keep buying up formula until there is none left for “families who need it”.
A Coles spokesperson did not address the incident specifically but reiterated that the supermarket giant “is committed to ensuring our customers have access to infant formula”
“As a result we are limiting sales quantities to two units per customer,” the spokesperson told Yahoo News.
“We are working with our suppliers on solutions to improve availability for customers.”
The Coles spokesperson also recommended that shoppers seek out the store manager when formula is unavailable.
After a Chinese produced baby formula killed six babies in 2008, there has been a high demand in China for formula from overseas.
Customers in Australia who supply formula to China are known as “daigous” and will sell to customers overseas for a handsome profit. Tins that cost $25 to $35 in Australia can sell for up to $100 per tin online.
The topic is particularly controversial as there are fears that overseas demand may leave Australian parents without formula.
Last year a mother filmed people loading trolley’s with baby formula at a Coles in Brisbane, disregarding the two-per-customer policy.
Woolworths also has a policy on how many units of formula one can buy per transaction.
However, this doesn’t stop Woolworths shoppers either.
Earlier this year a video emerged of shoppers walking in and out of a Woolworths store with two tins at a time, filling up their trolley outside the store.
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