Sugar free formula: HK store sells for almost half the Singapore price

Posted by Cris on | August 23, 2011 | No Comments

Looking for a sugar free formula?  You can find a few in Singapore, but they cost a bomb.  One enterprising mom, however, discovered she could order the formula she prefers in bulk from a shop in Hong Kong that charges almost half the price she pays here.

Lynn Yeow-de Vito discovered her baby, Tanin, was either intolerant or sensitive to both cow’s milk and sugar when she stopped breastfeeding and moved him onto solids, and formula, at six months old.  He kept having loose stools, and developed little boils around his mouth.  Alarm bells went off, and she began eliminating foods and trying out milk alternatives.  Her pediatrician suggested goat’s milk, which helped – but ultimately she concluded that sugar, which is added to most formulas, seemed to be causing the little boils.

She tried hypoallergenic formula and Bellamy’s goat’s milk formula, then finally landed on Holle Organic goat milk follow-on formula, which has no added sugar.  His tummy improved and his boils disappeared.  Mrs. Yeow-de Vito was elated – but  there was just one catch.   Holle Organic goat milk, which is made in Germany, costs $45 for a box at SuperNature, one of the few shops in Singapore that carries this brand.

Help came from Hong Kong.  Mrs. Yeow-de Vito was chatting on the phone with a friend who lives there and lamenting the cost of the milk. Her friend was aghast: turned out she bought the same formula brand for her own baby – at roughly half the price.   A bulk order of 20 boxes from the Hong Kong distributor comes out to $28 per box.

“I’ve been very lucky.  Tanin’s godma lives in HK but comes to Singapore very often and she carries them back for Tanin,” says Mrs. Yeow-de Vito.  Lucky indeed: she goes through a box every week.  That comes out to a savings of $70 a month, or over $800 per year.

It’s not clear why Holle Organic goat milk formula so much more expensive in Singapore, but it’s likely to do with supply and demand.  This is simply a smaller market, and few retailers stock it.

If you don’t have a personal courier, you can order this milk online from Mother Organic (website www.mother-organic.com) in Hong Kong.  They ship regionally.

Mrs. Yeow de-Vito remains a fan.  “Holle Goats milk powder is easy to use in Tanin’s morning cereals and oats. Also I use it to make yogurt for him,” she says. “He takes to Holle very well and I do think that apart from the difficulty to get it in Singapore – and pretty high cost – it is one of the best options for formula!”

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