Farleys Simplifeed System (Farleys Baby Food)

Member Name: christinemc

Product:	Farleys Baby Food
Date:	13/07/00 (185 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: contains LCPs, available in ready made cartons

Disadvantages: Cost has gone up, wastage (see opinion), no longer available in tins

I have used Farley’s first milk with both my children after breastfeeding for the first few months. It has always seemed to agree with their tummies and they like the taste, plus it had the added advantage of being at least 50p a tin cheaper than SMA, but just as widely available. Also, more importantly, I know that Farleys has LCPs in it, a chemical thought to be important in development of the brain. LCPs are found in breast milk but not in all formula milks.

Recently, Farley’s have brought out a new Simplifeed system, so that instead of buying the formula in a big tin, and measuring it out yourself using the scoop provided, you buy it in pre-measured sachets. The old style tins have now been replaced by the new system. You can get a large pack which contains 8 sachets, each making up 20oz of formula; a small pack containing 14 sachets each making up a 4oz feed; or ready made formula in a 500ml carton.

The large pack comes with a container and plunger for mixing the formula, however the container is quite wide and does not fit into my Mothercare large steam steriliser without taking out the basket – which means I can’t sterilise the bottles at the same time. The plunger is very easy to assemble and use, but I have found it isn’t 100% effective for mixing the formula, and have had some lumps at the bottom of the container after pouring it into the bottles. The container also has no spout, which makes pouring into bottles difficult. My bottles are wide necked, so I can imagine it will be really tricky if you have standard bottles.

I have mixed feelings about this new system. For me, it is not good news. My daughter has three 6oz bottles a day, so if I make up a 20oz sachet, I will only use 18oz and 2 are wasted (once mixed, it has to be used within 24 hours). I hoped I could just remove 2 scoops worth, but the sachet contains only 19 scoops (I checked this twice) so that isn’t an option. Th
e sachet sizes preclude being able to mix up 6oz feeds. You can only have amounts divisible by 4 it seems. Not only is there wastage of formula (in my case), but the new system also involves vastly more packaging waste. If you use the bigger packets, there is a box, 8 small foil sachets, 2 larger foil sachets, the mixing container and plunger. Compare this to the old system where there was just one large tin and one scoop.

The price has also gone up. According to Boots labelling, SMA works out at about 65p per 100g and the new Farley’s system works out at about 76p per 100g. Bearing in mind that SMA used to be the more expensive option (by about 50p per tin), you can see how much Farley’s has gone up in price to cover the cost of all the extra packaging the new system involves. If Farley’s sold their old 900g tin at the same price per 100g as the new system, it would cost £6.85 a tin. They were actually retailing at £5.59. Put in these terms you can see how much the price has gone up. And this is supposed to be for our benefit?

I think this type of system has some pluses, it’s about time ready made cartons were available (though I’d prefer a smaller size). I’m sure lots of people will find this system works for them, but I am disappointed that it has totally replaced the tins, which I would have preferred to carry on using. I am also disappointed about the price increase.

As my daughter is almost 11 months old it is not worth changing brands now as she’ll soon be on cows milk, but if she was younger I would change to SMA

Summary: