Iceland boss Richard Walker is making headlines after he revealed he broke the law to reduce the cost of baby formula in stores.
Walker is calling for the UK’s advertising laws to change after his supermarket chain made the decision to reduce the cost of 13 branded formulas by up to 20%.
Iceland has launched a £26 million investment into slashing costs as much as possible, as well as offering vouchers for other products amid the cost of living crisis.
Speaking about the initiative, Walker took to X, formerly Twitter, to share new information about the reductions.
Admitting that he could be breaking the law by doing this, he said: “Infant milk – this week, we have communicated about these significant price drops…which is actually illegal. We are prohibited from telling customers about price drops on infant formula. This seems archaic during a cost of living crisis?”
He went on to call for a “change in legislation” to allow them to help communicate “price drops customers desperately need” without fearing any repercussions.
Later speaking on Good Morning Britain, Walker reiterated his previous statement, saying: “All I want to do, in a neutral and informative way, is communicate a permanent price reduction to our customers.”
He also said that Iceland is now “by far the cheapest” on the market and explained that the laws currently have “unintended consequences.”
Walker then explained that because of the law, customers who only buy baby formula are technically not allowed to use the free parking offered by the supermarket as it counts as a promotional perk.
Currently, in the UK, retailers are not allowed to promote formula through buy-one-get-one-free deals, price cuts, samples, promotional gifts, discount coupons or any other special offers.
Customers are also not allowed to use loyalty points to purchase baby formula.
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