Blamed for empty shop shelves from Europe to Australia, networks of baby formula traffickers are shipping milk powder to Chinese parents fearful of local products, and working ever harder to meet demand.
Chinese parents haunted by scandals involving poisoned baby milk will pay premium prices – three or four times as much as domestic brands – for formula from Europe, where stores are limiting sales in the wake of the shortages.
Even the Chinese buyers are complaining. “Its getting harder to find milk powder, for each box I have to walk further,” said a woman surnamed Shao, who lives in Germany and advertises baby formula online.
She is one of a small army of vendors working from homes across Europe, emptying shelves and causing shops to impose limits on purchases.
China’s equivalent of eBay, Taobao, has more than 4,000 listings for milk powder products from Germany, with a similar number from Britain and nearly 3,000 from France.