AN Australian company has apologized to local mothers after its premium organic baby milk formula flew off domestic supermarket shelves ahead of China’s Singles’ Day buying frenzy yesterday.

    Consumers spent nearly US$8 billion in the first 10 hours of Singles’ Day, a 24-hour shopping promotion created by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, with infant formula maker Bellamy’s Organic caught up in the world’s biggest online retail event.

    Bellamy’s, based in the southern island of Tasmania, apologized to its Australian customers in a Facebook post Tuesday after complaints from shoppers that they were unable to buy the formula, nicknamed “white gold,” at their local stores.

    “We understand at this time, it is difficult to source our range of products and acknowledge the frustration this causes for our Bellamy’s mums and dads,” said the firm, owned by Australian-listed Bellamy’s Australia.

    Bellamy’s chief executive Laura McBain said the huge demand from China, which started before Singles’ Day, had “taken us by surprise.”

    “As a result, supermarket shelves in Australia are being wiped out. We didn’t anticipate we’d have a situation where mums couldn’t access our products,” McBain said.

    Bellamy’s Australia, which listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in August last year, has seen its shares spike from its A$1 (US$0.71) offer price to above A$10.05 in just 15 months, in what market analyst Angus Nicholson said was a reflection of a demand for “new China stocks” — companies that cater to the country’s middle class consumers.

    “It’s seen a huge spike just this week, and a lot of it has been driven by the Singles’ Day sales in China,” Nicholson said.

    “It’s almost been completely impossible for consumers in Australia and New Zealand to get hold of infant formula powder because it’s all been shipped off to China for this bulk buying on online websites.” (SD-Agencies)