Frenzied shoppers have been filmed snapping up tins of valuable baby formula before they even made it on the shelves at a Melbourne Coles.

Hannah Dixon said she was confronted by the crowd when they noticed she was recording them inside the Richmond Coles store yesterday morning.

In the video, at least a dozen shoppers can be seen lining up for the valuable formula.

"All these people were running through the supermarket," Ms Dixon wrote in a Facebook post to Coles.

"Going through the checkout and coming straight back over and over again.

One-by-one customers stuffed their tins with the formula before returning for more.

"I talked to other workers in the area and they’ve said that these people do it all the time almost barreling other customers over in the process.

"What happened today and many other days is just ridiculous."

Ms Dixon was confronted by one of the shoppers who was furious he was being filmed.

The supermarket said it has a strict four-tin limit per customer, although it does not seem to be enforced.

Similar scenes have occurred across Australia in the past months, with customers scooping up the formula to send it overseas.

Last month, a group of shoppers were filmed sprinting through a Glen Waverley Woolworth’s in an effort to purchase the formula.

A local resident told 9news.com.au that shoppers wait outside the Woolies every morning and purchase all the formula within 15 minutes.

A recent investigation by A Current Affair revealed suburban homes are being turned into makeshift warehouses as the overseas hunger for Aussie baby formula continues to grow.

The Chinese market is being fed by "daigous" - buyers who clear supermarket shelves of baby formula on behalf of Chinese mothers.

Despite the inconvenience to Australian parents, most suppliers are big fans of the daigou market.

A Current Affair discovered what appeared to be a formula warehouse in a south-east Melbourne garage.

The residents bought up a boot load of baby formula before returning to apparently package and label it at home.

When the garage is full, the big trucks arrive to ship it away – which is completely legal.

The formula didn't even make it to the shelves at the Richmond Coles.

International trade law Professor Justin Molban said the mark-up in price from Australia to China provided a profit motive.

"Between purchasing it in Australia and selling it overseas between $70 and $90, you can see there's plenty of room there for arbitrage," he said.

International trade law Professor Justin Molban said the mark-up in price from Australia to China provided a profit motive.