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SCMP Reporter

When it comes to buying brand-name baby formula that is in short supply, being a well-connected district councillor is no help at all. 
Nearly three months after becoming a father, Wong Wang-to  has been experiencing difficulty in buying milk formula for his baby boy.
'Many supermarkets and pharmacies are out of stock. I have to look in different districts in order to buy a can,' said Wong, a North District councillor living in Fanling.  
'Once I had to keep looking until I reached the ninth store, and they only had one can left unsold, at HK$300. It's expensive, but I had to buy it because I didn't know when I would be able to find the next can.' 
Infant formula that once sold  for HK$100 can cost HK$250 to HK$400 a can, according to a survey by the Federation of Trade Unions  last month.
About 68 per cent of respondents had encountered difficulties in buying baby formula, and 55 per cent had to go out of their own district to buy it, the survey of 136 parents found.
Though the survey focused on Sheung Shui  and Tai Po  where the shortage was more serious, the problem had reached different areas, lawmaker Ip Wai-ming  said.
According to figures from the Census and Statistics Department, imports of milk formula increased by more than 30 per cent, from 17 million in 2009 to 23 million last year.
He blamed so-called parallel traders, who buy up stocks in Hong Kong and take them across the border.
A crisis of confidence in the mainland's milk formula since the tainted milk scandal in 2008 has sparked a surge in demand for foreign brands.



Price of baby formula soaring, survey finds