Danone has said there is no shortage of supply of its baby milk despite requesting a cap per consumer for its baby milk brands Cow & Gate and Aptamil.

The precautionary measure has been taken to ensure availability for UK parents and prevent products being bought in bulk for unofficial export to China, it says.

A spokesman told The Grocer a cap of six products per customer had originally been introduced in December, but this now has been lowered to two products per person, as a result of “fluctuations” in the market.

“Rationing is not the way we want to look at it – it is a purchasing limit,” the spokesman said, adding that this would continue as long as it was “appropriate”, although no set time has been determined.

“Rationing is not the way we want to look at it – it is a purchasing limit”

Danone

The company maintains there is no shortfall at the moment, although availability could be “patchy” after it saw uplifts of up to 20% in demand in some places.

“A short-term uplift in our market, which is defined by the predicable UK birth rate, is very significant,” a separate spokeswoman added. 

Danone said the spike in demand had not been confined to one geographical area, store or product, but had been erratic, making it difficult to build up a specific picture or predict areas where demand might be highest. “If bulk buying has happened, stores need to replenish supply quickly - but it’s very difficult to predict,” the spokeswoman said. 

The company is working with retailers to increase production and capacity to ensure availability of its products for UK parents, as well as monitoring demand on a daily basis and responding swiftly where needed.

Danone said the problem is not confined to the baby milk category, but was a reflection of a wider global trend. Hong Kong recently introduced legislation to limit the amount of baby milk taken out of the region to mainland China.

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