Nestlé is flying baby formula into America as shortage continues

By Matt Egan, CNN Business

Nestlé is rushing baby formula into the United States via airfreight in a bid to ease a nationwide shortage that is unnerving parents around the country.

In a statement to CNN on Tuesday, Nestlé said it is flying in some baby formula produced outside the United States, including Gerber Good Start Extensive HA from the Netherlands and Alfamino from Switzerland.

Nestlé said it prioritized those products because they serve a “critical medical purpose” as they are intended for babies with cow’s milk protein allergies. The company had already been importing both of these formulas, but Nestlé said it is now expediting shipments to America.

“We moved shipments up and rushed via air to help fill immediate needs,” the company said in the statement.

News of the decision to fly formula into the United States was first reported by Reuters.

Nestlé said that Gerber is a “small player” in the infant formula market in the United States, but it is committed to doing “everything we can to help” get parents and caregivers the formula they need.

Beyond airfreighting some formula, Nestlé said it is running formula factories at capacity and accelerated product availability to retailers, online sellers and hospitals for the most vulnerable.

The Biden administration is stepping up its coordination with the industry to try to address the shortage.

“The White House is having ongoing conversations with the four major infant formula manufacturers — Reckitt, Abbott, Nestle/Gerber, and Perrigo — to work with them to identify transportation, logistical, and supplier hurdles to increasing production of formula at their US- and FDA-approved facilities, to expand the amount and speed of FDA-approved formula being shipped into the country, and ensure that formula is quickly moving to retailers from factories,” a White House official said Monday.

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