In response to feedback from Iceland colleagues and customers about the growing challenge of feeding their babies during the cost-of-living crisis, we announced in August 2023 that Iceland was cutting the price of branded infant formula to make it the cheapest available on the market, and gave our strong support to a campaign by the Metro newspaper and the charity Feed for a change in the infant formula regulations which currently forbid retailers to publicise such price reductions. We also called for customers to be allowed to pay for formula with gift cards, loyalty points and food bank vouchers, and began accepting these in our stores. Our campaign also calls for the Government to review of the value of Healthy Start vouchers, on which many customers rely to buy formula, which have been frozen at £8.50 per week since 2021.
We continue to campaign for a change in the infant formula regulations that would allow retailers allow retailers to advertise the product in retail premises, promote discounted infant formula, sell it in exchange for non-cash-based forms of payment, and allow it to be given away at food banks. Already the cheapest source of branded infant formula in the UK, we announced in January 2024 a further 7% reduction in the price of these products in our stores.
We welcome The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) market study into the supply of infant formula in the UK, after publishing its initial findings and committing to look at the sector in further detail in November 2023 and look forward to the publication of a final report in September 2024
“This report will consider whether there are problems in the market and, if so, what actions could or should be taken to address these. This could include making recommendations to government – for example, on the regulations governing how infant formula is marketed, or on the information provided to parents to help them choose an infant formula brand.”