US infant formula manufacturer ByHeart has acquired its third facility, tripling production capacity to supply the struggling US market.
ByHeart acquired the site in Iowa from US dairy cooperative DairiConcepts, a subsidiary of Dairy Farmers of America.
New York-based ByHeart said it would be “maintaining the facility’s workforce and extending its best-in-class benefits to all existing employees”.
It follows the company’s acquisition earlier this month of Cascadia Nutrition, an FDA-registered packaging and blending facility in Oregon.
It also has a manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania and said the three sites combined have the capacity to produce enough formula for 500,000 infants each year.
ByHeart CEO and co-founder Ron Belldegrun said: “When we started ByHeart seven years ago, we committed to taking the longer path and building from the ground up to serve as an example for how this industry can and should evolve. By acquiring these additional facilities, we are not only providing critical product to more families, but also further strengthening the vulnerable infant formula supply chain in this country.”
The US infant formula market was brought to a standstill last year after an Abbott Laboratories factory was forced to close due to product-safety concerns at its Michigan plant, followed by flooding.
Dominated by a few large manufacturers, the US infant formula market experienced shortages and supermarket shelves were left empty after a large-scale product recall.
This week it emerged that Abbott Laboratories was reportedly facing a criminal investigation over the outbreak.
In September 2022, an internal review concluded the FDA made mistakes in the way it responded to the infant-formula crisis. The report pointed to “systemic vulnerabilities” at the FDA.
And in December, a wide-ranging report into the practices, culture and structure of the FDA called for change at the organisation.
ByHeart said its acquisition would “yield a crucial incremental supply of infant formula in the US and ultimately contribute to safeguarding the country from future shortages”.
Martin Bates, president of Dairy Farmers of America Ingredient Solutions, said: “Infant formula is one of the most value-added dairy products in the world… We look forward to continuing to work with ByHeart, which we believe has the potential to unlock significant opportunity for our 11,500 family farmers across the country.”
Read Just Food’s analysis: Why there’s no single formula to fix US infant-milk market
