Image source, Getty Images
The UK infant formula market is under investigation after regulators said parents could be saving £500 in their baby’s first year.
An initial report in November found the price of formula had risen by 25% over two years.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that while prices had fallen a little, they remained “at historically high levels”.
Just two companies – Danone and Nestle – control the majority of the market.
The formal investigation means that the regulator can use its legal powers to compel companies to hand over information. Previously, it had to rely on firm providing information voluntarily.
The biggest seller of baby milk in the UK is Danone, which produces Aptamil and Cow & Gate, and has 71% of the market. Nestle, which makes SMA, is the second-largest with 14% of the market.
Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said the regulator was concerned that parents were not being given the information they needed to make informed choices over which milk to buy and that the market wasn’t…
