Earlier this year, parents across the country were scrambling to find baby formula.
Abbot Laboratories, one of the country’s largest producers of infant formula, was forced to shut down a major plant in Sturgis, Michigan, twice. In February, an inspection by the FDA discovered disease-causing bacteria on the factory grounds which resulted in the plant closure for cleaning and a subsequent recall of Similac, Alimentum, and EleCare formula. In June, the factory was forced to close again from severe flooding.
The closures combined with ongoing supply chain issues have put immense pressure on infant formula stocks around the country. Only now does the data show stocks are recovering.
The company Datasembly uses a complex set of algorithms to detect stock levels for grocery products around the country. They noticed when formula stocks began drying up this past winter, during the worst of the supply chain issues in late 2021, infant formula stocks went from the mid-nineties to about 70% by February of this year.
That is when stocks took a turn for the worse. The Abbot plant closure meant infant formula began to disappear from store shelves in large quantities. By May, Datasembly detected infant formula stock levels averaging 14% nationwide. Since then, the data shows a slight recovery to about 39%.
Most individual states are still experiencing stock levels of less than half of what is normal. The states with the most difficulty in finding infant formula are Alaska which only shows stock levels of 23%, and Oregon with stock levels of 31%. Only five states, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Maine, are showing stock levels above half. Arizona infant formula stock is averaging 44%.
At the metro level, Datasembly data are reporting a few cities that have barely recovered from the shortage. The Hawaiian Island of Oahu is in the worst shape with formula stocks averaging 21%. The northwestern cities of Seattle and Portland are not much better at 21% and 22% respectively. The Phoenix metro is slightly behind the state with stock rates of 39%.
Compared to May of this year much of this is good news. Abbot Laboratories reported that operations at the plant resumed in early July after the flood closure. Pending any further natural disasters or other issues stock levels of infant formula should continue to increase across the country.
