Exclusive-Maker of Walmart, Amazon store-brand infant formulas expects shortages through rest of 2022

By Jessica DiNapoli

NEW YORK Reuters – Perrigo Company PLC, which makes storebrand baby formulas for retailers including Walmart Inc and Amazon.com Inc expects shortages and heightened demand to last for the “balance of the year,” said CEO Murray Kessler in an interview with Reuters.

Perrigos formula manufacturing facilities in Ohio and Vermont are now running at 115 of full capacity, Kessler said. At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the company is making only four items, the storebrand versions of Similac Pro Sensitive and Pro Advance and Enfamil Gentle Ease and Infant, Kessler said.

The infant formula maker is also working with retailers including Walmart and Target Corp so they “get something each week,” Kessler said. Retailers allocations are based on an average of what the retailers received prior to “this crisis,” he said.

The closure of an Abbott Laboratories infantformula plant in Michigan exacerbated pandemicrelated shortages, leading to empty shelves in big box stores and supermarkets.