ByHeart Celebrates the FDA Registration of its Reading, Pa., Facility

READING, Pa. — ByHeart, a baby nutrition company, officially announced the Food and Drug Administration registration of its Reading, Pa., manufacturing facility, becoming the fourth vertically integrated United States infant formula brand to have full oversight of its production, supply chain and research and development —enabling it to rewrite the formula recipe from scratch and have control over every step of the process, from farm to formula — something no new infant formula entrant has accomplished in over 15 years, the company claimed.

"I'm thrilled to invest in innovation in the infant nutrition industry with $1.75 million in state support," said Governor Tom Wolf. "In addition to supporting good health from birth, this investment in ByHeart will create good jobs, economic impact and support for agriculture in the commonwealth and indeed the entire country currently suffering from shortages in this supply — it's an all-around win."

In 2019, ByHeart acquired and updated its own manufacturing facility in Reading, Pa., rather than using a third-party contract manufacturer as every other new entrant has done, the company claimed. It has invested $21.6 million to date, including enhancements in preventative food safety measures to convert the plant from toddler food production to infant formula capability, and engaged Pennsylvania-based companies for the engineering and construction. The team was able to tailor the facility specifically to the ByHeart formula as well as accommodate full in-house research and development capabilities. It created a proprietary small batch blending process that it claims requires half the steps of the industry norm and is designed to maintain the nutritional integrity and quality of the ingredients throughout every step and uphold the highest standards of food safety. Reduced processing means ByHeart is able to maintain the natural goodness and functional benefits of their ingredients, the company said.

"We spent two years auditing infant formula plants around the world," explained ByHeart CEO and Co-Founder, Ron Belldegrun. "We chose the commonwealth as our home base because of local expertise, rich agricultural heritage and a commitment to furthering value-add dairy, which — together with our expertise in infant nutrition innovation — has the potential to transform Reading into a national and global hub for the export of the most fundamental and vital food in the world."