There is a national shortage of baby formula, which has forced a large retail chain to impose rationing on the important product for infants. The supply chain crisis has prompted Walgreens – the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS – to limit the amount of baby formula that customers can purchase.
A spokesperson for the national drugstore chain told CBS MoneyWatch that customers may only buy three infant and toddler formula products per transaction. Walgreens – which operates approximately 9,021 drugstores in all 50 states – said the reason for rationing is because of “increased demand and various supplier issues.”
The restrictions are already in effect at stores. CVS is also experiencing baby formula shortages. A CVC Health spokesperson told CBS News that “product supply challenges are currently impacting most of the retail industry.”
The largest pharmacy store chain said it is working with “national brand baby formula vendors to address this issue and we regret any inconvenience that our customers may be experiencing.” Supply-chain snarls related to COVID-19 are contributing to the shortage of formula around the U.S.
They include manufacturers having more difficulty procuring key ingredients, packaging hangups, and labor shortages, with those factors combining to affect production and distribution. In addition, a major baby formula recall in January exacerbated shortages.
At retailers across the U.S., 29% of the top-selling baby formula products were out of stock as of the week of March 13, according to an analysis by Datasembly, which tracked baby formula stock at more than 11,000 stores. That’s up sharply from 11% in November. “This is a shocking number that you don’t see for other categories,” Ben Reich, CEO of Datasembly told CBS MoneyWatch.
