Mothers from coast-to-coast are going frantic, trying to find formula to feed their hungry infants. According to the experts, it really is a crisis because manufacturers “can’t just flip a switch” to ease the shortage.
No formula to be found
Laura Modi runs a “direct-to-consumer seller and subscription service for organic milk-based baby formula.” She’s based in San Francisco but her organic milk supply comes from Vermont.
Her phone’s been ringing off the hook but she doesn’t have much to say back. The emails, calls, and texts coming in daily have been relentless.
Modi runs a company called “Bobbie” heavily funded with $72 million in venture capital funding. She’s not some fly by night operator.
Her position in the trenches makes her “acutely aware of the desperation” coming from the other end of the phone wires. Lately, the contacts have “intensified” due to the “ongoing nationwide shortage of infant formula.”
Ms. Modi had to put a banner on the top of the company’s web page notifying that they’re “temporarily at capacity for new customers.”
They aren’t the only ones turning away new parents. “Other manufacturers say they’re producing at full capacity and making as much formula as they can. But demand is heavily outstripping supply.”
Supply problem getting worse
The supply problem is only getting worse, industry analysts warn. The big snap in the supply chain happened back in February when three brands of powdered formula made by leading producer Abbott Nutrition were recalled “due to potential bacterial infections.”
The investigation led to the Food and Drug Administration shutting down a major Abbott factory “over safety concerns.”
A week after the recall, Modi doubled her customer count and hit full capacity a few days later. “We currently have 70,000 subscribers nationwide and have to stop.” She calls it a “crisis.”
Parents need to find proper nutrition for their infants. “Producers can’t simply flip a switch and just make more formula.” She’s already up to “24/7 production for as much as the plant was able to handle.”
If she and others in her industry try to take short cuts in an effort to boost supply, it could backfire with safety issues like the ones encountered by Abbott. Infant formula is a tricky thing to blend.
The “time-consuming process” requires “multiple checks and balances, inspections and regulatory approvals.” The whole problem is that the U.S. market “is dominated by only a few large companies.” At times like this, “if something happens to one of them that affects their production, it creates a crisis.“
