Iceland Foods managing director Richard Walker is calling on lawmakers to give retailers more freedom to help reduce the cost of baby formula.
Walker is urging for cross-party support for the amednment of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill which is currently being passed through the House of Lords, to allow the secretary of state to make regulations over the promotion and sale of infant formula, Sky News reported.
He has said that this change could allow stores to sell baby formula in exchange for vouchers or loyalty points, or promote discounted products.
Walker also said the amendment would give ministers the opportunity to “strip away regulations which are currently making it harder for families to access more affordable formula.”
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He told the publication: “We promised customers we wouldn’t rest until we fixed this broken market and we have been working with legal experts to produce an amendment which we believe uses our separation from the EU regulatory framework to help hard-pressed families.
“While breastfeeding is always best for babies, the millions who rely on formula are struggling with costs and we believe this amendment would be a big step forward in the campaign to support them.”
It comes as an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) released late last year, found that prices for baby formula in the UK have risen by 25% over the past two years and evidence suggests that branded suppliers had increased their prices by more than their input costs.
Earlier this month, infant formula manufacturer Danone cut the wholesale price of its Aptamil baby powder products by 7%.
Iceland has since unveiled plans to reduce the price of Aptamil, and Sainsbury’s cut the price of some branded baby formula products by 7%.
As of last week, Asda’s customers can now use Asda Reward vouchers to pay for any baby formula product they purchase in-store.
A total of six Aptamil lines have been reduced in price at the supermarket giant by an average of 7%, while Tesco has also cut the cost of five Aptamil products by between 80p and £1.
