Inflation has hit all areas of the grocery store. While the rate of inflation has cooled in recent months, prices for everyday goods are still significantly higher than they’ve been in recent memory, with CNN reporting that certain items have increased in price more than others.
“The highest price hikes continue to be in the categories of frozen noncarbonated juice and raw beef steaks, which are up 19.1% and 11.2%, respectively,” reads a CNN article by Alicia Wallace.
One area that has seen significant price growth is baby food. Now, a user on TikTok has gone viral after sharing his experience of seeing the effects of this increase in the real world.
In a video with over 4 million views a of Sunday, TikTok user @djlostone says that he was shopping when he heard a commotion coming from the cash registers.
“I hear the biggest freak out from a woman in line with her two babies, and she goes, ‘How can I be $100 over budget? It’s the same baby formula that I’ve been buying,’” the TikToker recalls.
Moving closer to the conversation, the TikToker says overheard the cashier sharing in the shopper’s confusion.
“The cashier has the same face of bewilderment, saying ‘No, sweetheart. This has to be an accounting error, an inventory error or something,’” the TikToker recalls. “‘This is not correct. I just had another lady about a week ago with the same baby formula, the same amount. It shouldn’t have been this amount. There’s something wrong.’”
From here, the cashier calls over other staff, at which point three different people come to check the price. They all come to the same conclusion: The price hike is genuine.
“The GM is looking at the floor manager, at the inventory manager, and he is like, ‘How are we supposed to sell baby formula if it just went up 100 bucks?’” the TikToker states.
The TikToker alleges that, either out of kindness or out of the belief that the price increase was an error, a manager reduced the price for the woman and sent her on her way. However, upon verifying the information in his office, the manager determined that “all the baby formula went up in the last week.”
“What the h*ll is going on?” the TikToker asks.
The rising cost of baby formula is a problem around the world. A piece in Bloomberg from earlier this week notes, “While higher-end brands can go for as much as 70% more than the cheapest formulas, even the more affordable labels are becoming increasingly expensive. In the two years up to last autumn, formula prices rose 25% on average, according to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority.”
The cost of baby formula famously reached an all-time high last year as well, with manufacturers blaming “new regulatory requirements” for a significant portion of the cost increases, per the Los Angeles Times. These regulatory requirements became a larger concern after poor procedures and sanitary conditions at an Abbott baby formula factory allegedly led to the deaths of two babies.
@djlostone Truly a scary moment for a mother of two #thisjusthappened #icantbelieveit #babyformula #inflation #fypシ #trending ♬ original sound – Dj Lost One
In the comments section of @djlostone’s piece, users shared their own experiences seeing people interact with the high prices of baby formula.
“At CVS we watched a man walk out with a bag clearly stuffed with items,” alleged a user. “As soon as we realized it was baby formula the manager let him go.”
“When i was a cashier, the loss prevention guy told me he would purposley ignore anyone stealing baby formula or diapers because of this,” added another.
“Just looked up the formula we used for our twins. $40? we went through a can a day!! that’s $1,420 a month!!” exclaimed a further TikToker.
This isn’t the first time a customer has outraged at increase in baby formula prices. Earlier this month, a mother slammed H-E-B for raising the price of their H-E-B branded formula.
The Daily Dot reached out to @djlostone via email.
