China's obsession with Hong Kong baby formula?

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squall23

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This is apparently a big issue right now according to Hong Kong news. Essentially, mainland Chinese people go down to Hong Kong just to buy multiple uhh cartons(?) or cans(?) of baby formula to take back home, to the point that there are shortages for babies in Hong Kong. A few months ago, a law was passed that forbids people from taking more than 2 units of baby formula to the mainland.

So I don't really understand the reason for it. Does mainland China not sell baby formula? I honestly have no idea.
 
This is actually happening here in Australia aswell. In the supermarket I work for, we are limiting 4 baby formulas per customer now. But people (Chinese) come in almost daily and with multiple people just so they can get more. We know they intend to send them overseas (for profit maybe) but it results in people here not being able to get any because they keep running out. They are trying so hard to crack down on this, its almost like black market shit.
 
45 people arrested for exceeding 2-can milk formula limit:
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1173819/45-arrested-breaking-milk-formula-quota

At least 45 people have been arrested so far as they attempted to cross into the mainland with more than the permitted amount of infant milk formula that can be taken out of Hong Kong.

They included 26 Hong Kong residents and 18 mainlanders. One person had a foreign passport. Eight of those arrested were cross-border drivers.
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It's more due to high VAT and import taxes in China, compared to the sales tax free entrepôt of Hong Kong.

People can buy imported milk formula at every supermarket if they want, it's just really expensive compared to going through Hong Kong. Same with iPhones, handbags, everything--even Chinese Meizu phones are like $100-150 cheaper in Hong Kong.
 
foodtaster said:
breast milk
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Only drink the finest Cambodian.

2oZmy.jpg
 
same thing happens in New Zealand. Chinese buy it up and export it to China since they don't trust the local product. NZ formula is seen as the gold standard. there were shortages a couple of years ago and you are still limited at most places to a maximum of 4 cans.

I have a Chinese friend in Shanghai who has hinted at me buying her baby formula for when she has a child.

a little ironic given Fonterra, NZ dairy giant, had a significant ownership of Sanlu, whose tainted baby formula caused deaths around 3 years ago in China.

numble said:
They don't have family planning restrictions--their birth rate is lower than Mainland China and they have amongst the lowest birth rates in the world.
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But that's just that part of Asia in general... Taiwan, China, Japan and Korea are the lowest for breath rates for all countries. All are below or around 0.90.
 
Distrust of Chinese made formula and a culture that sees breast feeding as a lowest class thing to do. Also, family structure. Parents working all day don't need to worry if the childs grandparent can feed the child. There is no paternity leave for most people in china.
 
Nuss8iTl.jpg


Most of these are grey market importers bringing it to resellers that are avoiding taxes--just look at the people arrested in Hong Kong--they were mostly Hong Kong residents that were arrested.
 
Speaking as someone who has a newborn in China right now, the supermarkets are usually stacked with stuff that no one buys. They all buy from specialty baby shops. My wife is breast feeding completely but we always have some formula on hand in emergencies. She won't use anything that is from a Chinese company so we are using a Dutch companies formula for when the baby is still hungry after draining my wife.
 
Yep, this is happening in Australia as well. We have to call up stores to check that baby formula is in stock. In turn, we have to stock up when we can find them because you never know what when there'll be another shortage.

It's ridiculous. Some Chinese also have this mentality that breast feeding is uncivilised which is ignorant and dumb and further fuels this problem.
 
Big-E said:
Speaking as someone who has a newborn in China right now, the supermarkets are usually stacked with stuff that no one buys. They all buy from specialty baby shops. My wife is breast feeding completely but we always have some formula on hand in emergencies. She won't use anything that is from a Chinese company so we are using a Dutch companies formula for when the baby is still hungry after draining my wife.
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Are the specialty baby shops cheaper? I always saw aisles and aisles of formula, with more variety (including American brands) than I see at Sam's Club/Costco.
 
squall23 said:
So I don't really understand the reason for it. Does mainland China not sell baby formula? I honestly have no idea.
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My chinese wife has friends that want us to send it to them from the US. She said there really aren't controls to what the companies can put in them so moms want the formula from other places.

She had a friend visit and the friend took home a bunch of formula for her baby.
 
numble said:
Are the specialty baby shops cheaper? I always saw aisles and aisles of formula, with more variety (including American brands) than I see at Sam's Club/Costco.
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For the foreign formula no, but I have a place that is cheaper for diapers than the supermarket. The main supermarket I go to has a very big aisle but it doesn't have that much foreigner stuff there. Granted I am not in the super cities, so selection would probably be easier in Beijing.
 
Big-E said:
For the foreign formula no, but I have a place that is cheaper for diapers than the supermarket. The main supermarket I go to has a very big aisle but it doesn't have that much foreigner stuff there. Granted I am not in the super cities, so selection would probably be easier in Beijing.
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Ah I see--yeah, my experience is from Beijing.

I am in the US right now, I know someone going to China soon, and he was considering bringing baby formula to sell off or something. I had a friend go to a supermarket and all the American brands (Enfamil/Similac) look like they're about double the price of the US price. I was wondering if people don't go to the supermarkets because they are more expensive and don't evade taxes, whereas specialty stores do. A similar example are all the Fake Apple Stores which sell cheaper Apple devices smuggled from Hong Kong.
 
I think there was a case of milk formula tainted with carcinogens in mainland china a while back.

I have some Chinese friends, the general attitude I feel is that they don't trust their own produce. Even though practically everything is made in china nowadays, they still feel better buying stuff overseas because they have confidence that the regulatory authorities elsewhere have made sure that the product is genuine and safe.
 
squall23 said:
That sounds kind of racist doesn't it? I mean what if it was a Konger or Japanese or Korean wanting to buy some? Do you ask for ID?
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The thing is you know when they try, because they lood up the entire shopping cart full of the stuff.
So sure its not like if you take 5 and ask nicely you will not get it.
But its just a general rule not more than 4 other wise, all shops will be empty.

Dutch baby food is really really one the best regarded in the world.
Stuff is really expensive to: about $12 to $14 for one thing of furmula.
 
bobbytkc said:
I have some Chinese friends, the general attitude I feel is that they don't trust their own produce. Even though practically everything is made in china nowadays, they still feel better buying stuff overseas because they have confidence that the regulatory authorities elsewhere have made sure that the product is genuine and safe.
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The same can be said for many other products, such as the stories of reused reusable chopsticks (by crudely bleaching them with toxic chemicals), and repacking cooking oil that has been discarded (which has tested to cause high rates of cancer)
 
The Dutch Slayer said:
The thing is you know when they try, because they lood up the entire shopping cart full of the stuff.
So sure its not like if you take 5 and ask nicely you will not get it.
But its just a general rule not more than 4 other wise, all shops will be empty.

Dutch baby food is really really one the best regarded in the world.
Stuff is really expensive to: about $12 to $14 for one thing of furmula.
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So a general soft limit of 4. OK, that makes more sense.
 
beyond_death said:
This is actually happening here in Australia aswell. In the supermarket I work for, we are limiting 4 baby formulas per customer now. But people (Chinese) come in almost daily and with multiple people just so they can get more. We know they intend to send them overseas (for profit maybe) but it results in people here not being able to get any because they keep running out. They are trying so hard to crack down on this, its almost like black market shit.
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Assuming the stores are making a profit on the stuff why don't they just order a shit ton more?
 
Somnid said:
People honestly think paying lots of money for formula is somehow better than the breast milk they produce for free. Such is the power of advertising.
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Or for whatever reason breast feeding isn't a possibility?

Some mums (like my wife) have to to back to work quite quickly after giving birth, also health issues can prevent it etc
 
When I went to Hong Kong I saw a woman from China (Spoke broken Cantonese) buying like 14 baby milk formula, with several more from different stores (was in bags next to her) =/
 
LuchaShaq said:
Assuming the stores are making a profit on the stuff why don't they just order a shit ton more?
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The problem really stems from that the global supply itself is strained. This is making headlines only because it's now one of many ongoing issues with Hong Kong opening up it's borders to more mainland China shoppers.

Somnid said:
People honestly think paying lots of money for formula is somehow better than the breast milk they produce for free. Such is the power of advertising.
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We've had this thread before and the debate always turns into this breastfeeding thing. And yet the realities of whether it applies to people in Hong Kong (mat-leave is kinda lacking, so is space for storing extra breast milk for later use).
 
Most of the more well off Chinese people does not trust products from the mainland.

Also Chinese people tend to have issues breast feeding because of the lack of milk. 90 percent of the new Chinese mothers I know have had trouble with breast feeding.

Also another thing is that there is a tradition for the more traditional Chinese people in foreign countries to send their child back to China for be taken care of by their parents until school age. (Yeah I know its crazy but that's what they do)
 
Big-E said:
Speaking as someone who has a newborn in China right now, the supermarkets are usually stacked with stuff that no one buys. They all buy from specialty baby shops.
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So I had a conversation with a friend on this topic. He eventually says something along the lines of "well, if mainlanders can't trust baby formula from China, how do people know that the 'import' stuff hasn't somehow been tampered with?"

I mean, the possibility that some douchebag Chinese company would copy another company's brand and sell it off with their own vastly inferior product is somewhat small, but still.
 
squall23 said:
So I had a conversation with a friend on this topic. He eventually says something along the lines of "well, if mainlanders can't trust baby formula from China, how do people know that the 'import' stuff hasn't somehow been tampered with?"

I mean, the possibility that some douchebag Chinese company would copy another company's brand and sell it off with their own vastly inferior product is somewhat small, but still.
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The death penalty
 
ccbfan said:
Also another thing is that there is a tradition for the more traditional Chinese people in foreign countries to send their child back to China for be taken care of by their parents until school age. (Yeah I know its crazy but that's what they do)
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I can speak to this. This happens a lot and happens in China too. You hardly ever see small babies walking around parks with parents, always grandparents. My mother in law even offered to take my kid to her hometown so they can raise him there. This mentality is also why formula is so popular as babies aren't anywhere near their mothers for the majority of the day.
 
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