Iceland slashes price of baby formula to help parents with cost of living
The frozen supermarket chain Iceland has slashed the price of the branded baby formula it sells to help parents with the cost of living.
Iceland, which has over 800 branches across the UK, as well as 150 Food Warehouse stores, said as of today (August 15), customers will be able to buy formula milk at a “significantly lower price” in its stores, as well as Food Warehouse stores. Iceland says the price of its own formula milk it sells has been reduced by over 20% in line with hundreds of other household staples.
The reduction applies to infant, follow-on and toddler milk formula products which can be purchased in all Iceland and Food Warehouse stores. Iceland said the price drop will continue until at least the end of the year.
The price cuts come as part of Iceland's £26million annual investment to help keep prices low for shoppers. The move was made by the supermarket chain as results from a recent study by the Food Foundation found that 86% of 18 to 35 year olds who have a child under the age of one are concerned about the rising costs of infant formula. Around 80% also believed that supermarkets were not going enough to help parents feed their children.
The retailer also cited "recent alarming reports" of parents reducing the frequency of feeding, ignoring best before dates, or over-diluting the powder as another reason for the move. Iceland hopes the new significantly lower price of formula milk in its stores will give real help to these families who are struggling to afford to feed their babies during the cost of living crisis.
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Data from First Steps Nutrition published in May revealed that the price of the cheapest brand of formula has increased in price by 45%in the last two years, putting even more pressure on new parents to provide for their new born children. Supermarket chains have also been called out after upping the security measures they place on the product in their stores - which include tags, displaying empty boxes, and placing them behind counters.
NHS guidance recommends that babies are exclusively breastfed for the first year of their lives. However, according to research by the All Party Parliamentary Group, the majority of babies in the UK are either partially or fully formula fed by the time they are eight weeks old.
In order to prevent baby formula from being seen as superior to breast milk, it’s illegal in the UK to advertise it or for retailers to apply discounts or promotions to it. There are also restrictions on being able to use loyalty points or vouchers to pay for it in shops.
Due to this, parents who rely on feeding their babies formula milk, there are barriers in the way of accessing it cheaply.
Richard Walker, executive chairman of Iceland Foods, said: “If parents cannot breastfeed or choose to use formula for whatever reason, we need to ensure it is accessible for them. More and more parents across the country are living in fear about being able to feed their babies, and they don’t feel supermarkets are doing enough to help them.
"At Iceland, we’re just not willing to have that on our conscience. Reducing the price on formula is the right thing to do to support our customers.”
List of new prices for baby formula at Iceland
The below products have been reduced at Iceland/The Food Warehouse, as follows:
- Aptamil 800g First Infant Milk – now £12.00 (was £14.50)
- Aptamil 800g Growing Up Milk – now £12.00 (was £14.50)
- Aptamil 800g Follow-on Milk – now £12.00 (was £14.50)
- Cow & Gate 800g Milk Powder – now £9.75 (was £10.75)
- Cow & Gate 800g Follow-on Milk – now £9.75 (was £11.50)
- Cow & Gate 800g Growing Up Milk – now £9.50 (was £10.50)
- Kendamil 800g Classic Milk – now £9.25 (was £11.50)
- Kendamil 800g Stage 2 Milk – now £9.25 (was £11.50)
- Kendamil 800g Stage 1 Organic Milk – now £9.25 (was £13.50)
- Kendamil 800g Stage 3 Milk – now £9.23 (was £14)
SMA 400g First Infant Milk - £6.50 (was £7)
SMA 400g Follow On Milk - £5.75 (was £7)
SMA 3pk First Infant Milk - £2.50 (was £3.00)
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