China's insatiable demand for Australia's infant formula has meant that exporters of perishable fruit and vegetables are struggling to find freight routes for their produce. Table grapes, cherries, asparagus and stonefruit exporters face losing key Asian markets as freight routes are swamped by the infant formula exports.
Victorian exporters have been trucking grapes to Sydney and Perth to get the fruit airfreighted into Asia.
Some powder exporters are paying a 35 per cent premium to secure airfreight space due to the huge demand from Chinese consumers for Australia’s infant formula.
This demand has seen supermarkets and pharmacy shelves cleared of formula stock and limits imposed on the number of tins each shopper can buy, with opportunistic sellers reportedly making huge margins selling infant formula online.
Tins of Australian infant formula sell for about $20 in Australian supermarkets but are reportedly being sold for more than double that price in China.
