Baby Formula Blues

So, our little pookaboo is sustained on a combination of breast milk and formula. We have primarily used Enfamil’s A+ product with iron and Omegas 3 and 6 in spite of the fact that it is more costly than store brands. In part, this is because it has higher amounts of said Omegas and it is easier to measure out. Some of the store brands tend to clump and stick.

When we can’t get our hands on the Enfamil Value Pack, which is the norm, we typically buy the 730 gram carton. The retail price is normally $28.99 (or $0.397 per gram), but we usually get it on sale for $24.99 (or $0.34 per gram).

Enfamil has now introduced a plastic tub with 663 grams at $28.97 (or $0.437 per gram). Two refills with a total of 992 grams are available at a cost of $39.97 (or $0.429 per gram). The packaging states that it is “easier for moms” (I guess dads don’t feed their kids?) but, in effect, Enfamil is now offering less product at a higher cost.

The one improvement is that the tub and refill system should reduce the overall amount of waste – assuming that the refills are consistently available and that parents remember to hang on to the tub. At the end of the day, however, an already pricey product is now even pricier. One would assume that Mead Johnson, the maker of Enfamil, is saving on packaging costs, but they chose not to pass any of these savings along. This makes me want to shop the competition…

As a side note, Enfamil currently has launched an online $10,000 Tub and Refill contest, but I can’t even look at it because it is not optimized for mobile devices. Sigh…