Market Consolidation and Disparities in Infant Formula Sales: Economic Insights from COVID-19 and the 2022 Formula Shortages

Mengjie Li and Tatiana Andreyeva

No 360894, 2025 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2025, Denver, CO from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Abstract: Breastfeeding offers significant health benefits, yet only 25% of U.S. infants meet exclusive six month recommendations. A stable formula supply is essential for formula-fed infants, but market consolidation makes it vulnerable to disruptions. Using NielsenIQ Retail Scanner Data, this study evaluates the impacts of COVID-19 and the 2022 formula shortage on infant formula purchases. The pandemic increased formula sales by 14.8%, with greater impacts in low-income and rural areas, while the 2022 shortage led to a 24.3% decline, disproportionately affecting low-income and highly consolidated markets. Findings highlight the need for regulatory reforms to strengthen formula supply chain resilience and reduce disparities.

Keywords: Food; Consumption/Nutrition/Food; Safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/360894/files/7 ... draft_2025_06_17.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aaea25:360894

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.360894

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in 2025 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2025, Denver, CO from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().