'I don't want to start a war': Mum catches group raiding baby formula from Woolies
Mum of two Jessica Hay witnesses a group buy trolleys full of baby formula at Woolworths, Epping Plaza, despite the supermarket's eight tin limit. (Facebook)
Booming demand for baby formula is so high that it’s leaving Aussie mothers stressed that they can’t feed their children.
Melbourne mother-of-two Jessica Hay snapped photos of a group bulk-buying dozens of tins of rare formula at the Epping Plaza Woolworth’s on Saturday.
She then posted the images to a Facebook group for mothers, after she witnessed staff do nothing to stop the shopping market frenzy.
“I deliberately blurred out the faces because I don’t want to start a war”, she wrote on Facebook.
“But it takes so long to get your kids used to a formula so when you can’t get it is very stressful.”
She later told the Herald Sun that one woman "guarded’’ nearby pallets while others in her group unloaded two trolleys of tins at the counter.
Some supermarkets have set limits on how much formula customers can buy, but the number varies from store to store.
“We have an eight can limit per transaction to make sure all shoppers have the opportunity to purchase the items they need,” a Woolworths spokesman said.
Australian brands are deemed better quality and cheaper than those in China, and for that reason are snapped up and sold on the black market.
The high demand also means skyrocketing prices, with some reports suggesting formula prices have nearly doubled over the past two years.
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