PARENTS are being ripped off by makers of baby milk — and the ban on discounting it should end, the competition watchdog has said.
Formula price has jumped between 18 and 36 per cent in two years, the Competition and Markets Authority has found.
It wants a shake-up of the market and is calling for retailers to be allowed to promote discounts.
They are currently not allowed to over fears of discouraging breastfeeding.
The CMA may still recommend government price caps on milk.
And it suggests the government brings in its own cheaper NHS-branded option.
The regulator said 85 per cent of the market is controlled by just two makers — Danone and Kendamil — so there is little incentive to compete on price.
Firms instead add on inflationary prices “quickly and in full”, it said.
CMA boss Sarah Cardell warned parents often chose infant milk in “vulnerable circumstances” and were led into opting for the most expensive brand out of concerns for their child’s well-being.
This is despite the “NHS advising it does not matter which brand you choose, they’ll all meet your baby’s needs, regardless of price”, Ms Cardell said.
She went on: “Parents have been shouldering the increasing price of formula for several years.”
Savings of £300 to £500 a year can be made by switching to the cheapest brand.
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Asda slumps
THE chairman of Asda, Lord Stuart Rose, has admitted the supermarket “let a few basics of retail slip” as it suffered a 4.8 per cent drop in third quarter sales.
The grocer is still hunting for a permanent chief executive with Lord Rose saying it needed a “different animal” to co-owner Mohsin Issa, who stepped back in September.
Vistry error
SHARES in Vistry Group, one of the country’s biggest housebuilders, slumped by almost a fifth yesterday after it warned its account errors were worse than previously thought.
Vistry Group cut its profit guidance by £50million and said profits would be £165million lower over the next three years after understating the cost of housebuilding on 18 sites.
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