The ultimate price review to baby formula milk in Singapore
As I am promoted to a mummy now, I will be sharing more about the finances of a family. One big hole in the pocket is because of formula milk, no wonder we always say parents have to 赚奶粉钱 (earn money for milk)! The recent report by Straits Times is not helping. It states that the price of formula milk has gone up by 120% in 10 years, faster than any other raw materials.
This post aims to compare the formula milk of all stages with the intention to find out if there is a big price difference that will motivate me to change brands.
(Updated: I have done another post to include NTUC Gold formula milk. You can read more here.)
Nutritional information
Before I talk about the different prices, it's necessary to explain more about the nutrition that is widely marketed by milk companies. They 2 key ingredients are AA and DHA, but you will also find ALA and LA in the formula milk too. Some details on these 4 ingredients:
DHA content in formula milk is usually higher than AA because:
1) Children do not take much fish, which contains DHA
2) Conversion of ALA to DHA is low
Thus, even without addition of AA, there is a large amount of LA present in formula milks. Rest assured that all brands sold in Singapore comply to the requirements set by AVA, and no evidence that any one brand is superior to another.
Assumptions
1) For the prices below, I used the bulk price listed in Lazada for all the non hypoallergenic and with lactose version.
2) For newborn formula milk, they cannot be bought online so I took the prices from Sheng Siong.
3) Average price calculated at the overall comparison does not include the price of Stage 1 because the amount of formula milk consumed should be low during the first 6 months.
4) I did not use the amount of ALA/LA present, but the summation of only AA and DHA in the comparison
5) Price divided by the total amount of AA and DHA is a very simplistic way to determine the price per nutrition and may not be reflective of the total nutrients present.
Stage 1 (Formula milk from birth)
I do encourage all mummies to continue breastfeed as long as you can, but don't force it if you are losing sanity. These prices are taken at Sheng Siong on April 2017. Comparing the prices for Stage 1, S26 has the lowest price per kg and by amount of AA+DHA, Enfamil A+ has the highest amount of AA/DHA.
Stage 2 (Formula milk from 6 months onwards)
Comparing the prices for Stage 2, Friso Gold is the lowest in price per kg. Enfamil A+ has the highest amount of AA and DHA, which corresponds to the lowest price per AA+DHA.
Stage 3 (Formula milk from 1 year old onwards)
Comparing the prices for Stage 3, Friso Gold is still the lowest in price per kg. This time, Mamil Gold is the lowest in price in terms of amount of AA+DHA.
Stage 4 (Formula milk from 2 or 3 years onwards)
Comparing the prices for Stage 4, Friso Gold reigns as the lowest in price. Mamil Gold is the lowest in price in terms of amount of AA+DHA.
For the overall comparison
Conclusion
To be fair, there is no bulk discount for Similac which might explain the highest price. After all, this is just a numbers comparison but there are other factors to be considered, such as taste and your baby's preference to it. Price is not everything!
What this means for me?
My baby is drinking Nestle Nan Optipro now and I was not surprised that it is one of the most expensive brand, particularly because it is Made in Switzerland with only 800g as its biggest size. I regretted not doing this comparison earlier, but now I will definitely get baby to try Mamil Gold or Friso Gold. Being a non-fussy drinker, I really don't think she will reject it!
P.S: I have actually changed to cow milk when my baby is 15 months. You can read more about it here.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer: No milk companies sponsored this review but I do wish they would give me some tins of milk! :) Like me on Facebook if you would like to receive updates on family expenses. You may also like to compare the prices for diapers.
This post aims to compare the formula milk of all stages with the intention to find out if there is a big price difference that will motivate me to change brands.
(Updated: I have done another post to include NTUC Gold formula milk. You can read more here.)
Before I talk about the different prices, it's necessary to explain more about the nutrition that is widely marketed by milk companies. They 2 key ingredients are AA and DHA, but you will also find ALA and LA in the formula milk too. Some details on these 4 ingredients:
 |
| You can also get ALA from walnuts |
1) Children do not take much fish, which contains DHA
2) Conversion of ALA to DHA is low
Thus, even without addition of AA, there is a large amount of LA present in formula milks. Rest assured that all brands sold in Singapore comply to the requirements set by AVA, and no evidence that any one brand is superior to another.
Assumptions
1) For the prices below, I used the bulk price listed in Lazada for all the non hypoallergenic and with lactose version.
2) For newborn formula milk, they cannot be bought online so I took the prices from Sheng Siong.
3) Average price calculated at the overall comparison does not include the price of Stage 1 because the amount of formula milk consumed should be low during the first 6 months.
4) I did not use the amount of ALA/LA present, but the summation of only AA and DHA in the comparison
5) Price divided by the total amount of AA and DHA is a very simplistic way to determine the price per nutrition and may not be reflective of the total nutrients present.
Stage 1 (Formula milk from birth)
I do encourage all mummies to continue breastfeed as long as you can, but don't force it if you are losing sanity. These prices are taken at Sheng Siong on April 2017. Comparing the prices for Stage 1, S26 has the lowest price per kg and by amount of AA+DHA, Enfamil A+ has the highest amount of AA/DHA.
 |
| The highlighted boxes are the best in each categories |
Comparing the prices for Stage 2, Friso Gold is the lowest in price per kg. Enfamil A+ has the highest amount of AA and DHA, which corresponds to the lowest price per AA+DHA.
 |
Comparing the prices for Stage 3, Friso Gold is still the lowest in price per kg. This time, Mamil Gold is the lowest in price in terms of amount of AA+DHA.
 |
Comparing the prices for Stage 4, Friso Gold reigns as the lowest in price. Mamil Gold is the lowest in price in terms of amount of AA+DHA.
 |
 |
| The average price does not include the prices of Stage 1 |
Conclusion
The lowest cost by unit price is Friso Gold while the most value-for-money by amount of AA+DHA is Mamil Gold.
I am shocked by the difference in prices between Similac (most expensive) and Friso Gold (cheapest). The difference is quite substantial: $(54.53 - 35.71) = $18.82, a 50% difference! In a year, just by changing the brands, you could save $(18.82 x 52 tins) = $978.64. This is assuming your baby drinks 1 kg a week, which is pretty accurate for baby above 6 months.To be fair, there is no bulk discount for Similac which might explain the highest price. After all, this is just a numbers comparison but there are other factors to be considered, such as taste and your baby's preference to it. Price is not everything!
What this means for me?
My baby is drinking Nestle Nan Optipro now and I was not surprised that it is one of the most expensive brand, particularly because it is Made in Switzerland with only 800g as its biggest size. I regretted not doing this comparison earlier, but now I will definitely get baby to try Mamil Gold or Friso Gold. Being a non-fussy drinker, I really don't think she will reject it!
P.S: I have actually changed to cow milk when my baby is 15 months. You can read more about it here.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer: No milk companies sponsored this review but I do wish they would give me some tins of milk! :) Like me on Facebook if you would like to receive updates on family expenses. You may also like to compare the prices for diapers.
Jes
If you have benefited from this post, support our first business venture at snackfirst.com or like us on Facebook!
%2B(6).JPG)
some errata in your conclusion. Similac is the most expensive and not the cheapest
ReplyDeleteHi there,
DeleteGood catch! I have edited it accordingly, thanks for the help :)
Now you may appreciate what your parents have been through.
ReplyDeleteHi Uncle CW,
DeleteYes I appreciate more now that I go through this stage. So I just don't understand how the last generation can have so many kids! Haha :)
There are reasons why the products are priced differently, eg:
ReplyDelete1. Processes (Actually this is one key component for Quality)
2. Ingredients, Raw materials
3. Branding
It is known in the industry, how some brands are able to priced them self much lower than competitors, due to the process they are using.
Hi Yong Kun,
DeleteI agree with you, which is why this is a very simplistic way to compare prices. Would you care to share with everyone the various processes and how they affect prices? As we are not in the industry, we do not know much about it. Thank you!
Hi Jes
ReplyDeleteI have been using Dumex gold after 1 year of breastfeeding. You can look out for bulk discount as the price you quoted are much higher than what I have paid for.
One thing that you may have missed out. Different formula need different numbers of scoops and made the comparison harder. Example, some need 1 scoop for every 40ml of water, while some need 1 scoop for every 60ml of water. Maybe comparing by per intake is more accurate.
Read your diaper post too, good job. haha.
Hi FD,
DeleteYeah, I already tried looking out for the cheapest, maybe just nice the bulk discount is not applicable during this month.
That's a very good point! However, the normal consumer probably wouldn't compare between the different number of scoops. Too many things to compare. Hope the government can do something about the rising cost though.
Thank you for the compliment! Haha, now being a mum, more kiasu on costs. Happy Mothers' Day to your wife and enjoy your holidays!
hi Jes, I did a comparison too! I'm more kiasu so I did it on per 100ml basis. My kid's on similac and I'm thinking of switching so I did the comparison. Just to share: https://thecrazymummy.family.blog/2017/06/21/the-busy-mums-insane-moments-comparison-of-nutritional-information-of-milk-powder-stage-3/
ReplyDeleteHi Icyparadise,
DeleteDon't worry, all parents are kiasu one! Nice review, but a bit difficult to read the contents in the table because the font is too small. You might want to make them bigger. Continue comparing and benefit the other parents, thanks for sharing :)
Okies i try to make it bigger. Quite noob at this. Haha so i just copied and pasted as picture =x
ReplyDeleteHi Icyparadise,
DeleteIt looks much easier to read now. Ok what, don't look noob at all! Well, if you really want to improve you can reduce the number of words, jiayou...
hi, may i know when you found the prices of the products mentioned in your post? thanks :))
ReplyDeleteHi there,
DeleteOh I have mentioned in the post "These prices are taken at Sheng Siong on April 2017." No problem and thank you for dropping by! :))
Hi, this is useful! Just wanted to point out too when making price comparisons - that brands like S26 require 1 scoop per 30 ml of water, vs say Aptamil which requires 1 scoop per 50ml of water. This affects the 'mileage' each tin can bring you because you will require more powder per serving if you go with S26 vs the other brands. My son is on Aptamil (in infant care) and S26 (at home) so his S26 runs out a lot faster i.e. more expensive.
ReplyDeleteHi Lorraine,
DeleteGlad that you find it useful. I agree with you, the amount of water per scoops does make a big difference. I have another post that mentioned that I changed to cow milk, it's only 1 scoop for 90ml water! And the price is so much cheaper. Anyway, thanks for sharing, this will be useful for the other readers too :)
Great Thanks =)
ReplyDeleteThe way to accurately compare is to convert to milk....based on ml. So, $ per ml or $ per 1litre of milk. So that the comparison is not affected by the scoops needed for each feed.
ReplyDeleteHi there,
DeleteYou are right and I have tried my best to calculate that previously. However, the conversion between kg and ml is not straightforward and it is different for every brands. Anyway, none can be cheaper than NTUC Gold formula milk. Thanks for the suggestion :)