Chinese demand for "safe" baby formula is fuelling a shortage that's left mums in Australia high and dry.
Fearful Chinese parents are turning to Australian-made products after a number of deadly domestic formula scares, including one contamination incident in 2008 that killed six babies and made 300,000 others sick.
These affluent families want high-end, Aussie-made formulas such as the a2 and Bellamy's Organic ranges.
The surge in demand has left many Australian mums complaining they can't source the brands they've always fed their babies.
It has sparked reports of people stripping supermarket shelves of quality formulas, knowing they can be resold for enormous profit to Chinese buyers desperate for safe products.
Onsellers are turning to sites such as eBay, using ads in English and Mandarin to offer products for as much as $190 a tin for the a2 formula which normally sells for about $30 - a markup of more than six times the Australian price.
On Tuesday, a tin of Bellamy's Organic infant formula was listed for $150. Its recommended retail price is $24.70.
The a2 Milk Company says demand for its products - which are manufactured only in Australia and New Zealand - has skyrocketed over the past six months, forcing it to ramp up production.
The company already exports to China, but some Chinese still prefer to source what they need from Australia because they fear counterfeit products.
Chief executive Peter Nathan told AAP on Tuesday he hopes supply issues being felt by Australian customers can be resolved relatively quickly, without any lasting impacts on the a2 brand.
Bellamy's Organic - which manufactures solely in Australia - has seen its Facebook page bombarded by angry local customers.
Some mums want to know why an Australian company built on the back of Australian customer loyalty isn't putting its local market first, and is still exporting product to China and elsewhere.
Other mums appear to be at their wits' end, unable to satisfy their babies with other brands.
"It gets really desperate when you've reached the bottom of that last tin and you've been waiting 2 months without any stores restocking, just running around in circles," Layla Vue wrote.
Bellamy's declined AAP's request for interview, but did issue a statement saying it's increased production and hopes to resolve the shortage by the end of the month.
In the meantime, Coles is limiting customers to four cans of formula each, and Woolworths to eight cans each to help stretch supplies.
That point was proven on the weekend, when photos taken by an angry Melbourne mum surfaced. They showed a group of people working together to fill entire trolleys with formula at a Woolworths store, leaving shelves bare.
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