Kirkland Signature Infant Formula discontinued?
Aerin eats Kirkland Signature Infant formula, it’s her jam and unlike Maggie we never experienced any stomach issues and everything’s been smooth sailing with it so we want to keep using it. I went to Costco yesterday (April 21, 2016,) among other things to pick some up for the coming weeks, and there was none.
*Evidently it’s coming back in May. As of May 9th I’m reading it’s in stores in some locations. It’s also now available for order from the website. No updates as of yet on whether it’s as good.
The aisle was completely devoid of the Kirkland Infant Formula I normally get. I flagged down a staff member at Costco and was told that it was discontinued and a lot of people were mad about it (really, it’s half the price of comparable formula, it pays for about 5-10 costco memberships in savings a year on its own).
I checked with the checkout guy, he said it was discontinued. I checked with the (I’m guessing floor manager,) she said it was discontinued and that maybe I should check to see if I could still order it online.
I came back home and unloaded groceries and called the other nearby Costco and talked to someone who accidentally gave me what it costs them as the price, and mentioned that yes, it has been discontinued and that another company had been filling in for the normal manufacturer and selling it under the Kirkland Signature label.
She also mentioned that it was scheduled to be deleted from the system, so evidently it was going away as there were no more cans coming in.
I should point out at this point Kirkland Signature Infant Formula was $17.99 for a 40 oz. The same as the 20something ouncers in plastic containers. Basically over a year the cost difference is significant.
She also said they had 26 cans in stock.
Considering this is somewhat vital to my wallet and my daughter’s stomach, I trekked back out and went to the other Costco.
We guessed at how much we needed and realized it was more than the amount they had, which was haphazardly laying on the other baby formula. Checked the expiration date, and cleaned Costco out of the remainder in an attempt to save about $550 on the remainder of Aerin’s feeding.
Nobody knew why it was discontinued. I did some searches as to whether there had been any recalls, complaints, etc. Saw nothing. Not that you get too far in finding out information on Costco’s back end business dealings. They hide what they do pretty well, especially who makes their formula.
Oddly by calling a local person I got the name of the manufacturer and the price they purchase it at by accident as they were mumbling through history and lines on the record.
Anyway, hope to see this return to Costco. It’s the number one reason for parents to get a membership, followed closely by diapers. I didn’t notice any shortage of diapers, but I don’t have any clue why they got out of the baby formula business so I’m a bit worried their superior diapers will get discontinued as well.
I’m also hoping that somehow this is all a several-person multi-store miscommunication, but it seemed like I talked to enough people to get over just one or two mistakes.
