Bobbie Urges Congress to Address Infant Formula Industry Vulnerabilities

Bobbie, the only mom-founded and led infant formula company in the U.S., is Hungry for Change. Ahead of this week’s continued Congressional hearings on the nationwide infant formula shortage, Bobbie has called on parents — moms specifically — across the U.S. to share their voices, their frustrations, and their needs in this moment of crisis, because frankly, no one else was asking. Bobbie compiled the raw, emotional, and harrowing voicemails from the Hungry for Change hotline and included them in a letter to Congress (excerpt below).

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“In order to create systemic change in the infant formula industry, including upleveled standards and increased safety measures, we must give parents a platform to be heard — something this industry has historically overlooked. Let’s not forget how we got here,” said Laura Modi, CEO and Co-Founder of Bobbie and mother of three.

Amidst the nationwide infant formula shortage, Bobbie’s focus as an industry disruptor goes beyond the short term; out of this crisis comes a real opportunity to reset and diversify the infant formula category.

An excerpt of Bobbie’s letter to congress and select Hungry for Change voicemail transcripts can be found below — to read the full letter, visit: https://hungryforchange.us.

Dear Congress,

I write this letter in the midst of an infant formula crisis — millions of families are living in fear, not knowing if their babies will have enough food. On behalf of Bobbie, a mom-founded and led U.S.-based infant formula company, I’m sharing our perspective on how Congress can help secure essential and safe nutrition for families across this country.

While breast milk is the optimal source of nutrition during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, we know as experts in infant feeding (and as parents ourselves) that this is simply not a reality for most American families. When breast milk is not an option, infant formula is the sole source of nutrition for many infants until solids are introduced. For the 83% of infants who consume formula in their first year of life they deserve a high quality, safe, and reliable source of food in their bottles.

Despite such widespread consumption, infant formula remains stigmatized and the industry has long remained dominated by the same 2 large companies who have kept the status quo intact for decades. That status quo is what got us here and it’s what needs to change. Bobbie was founded in 2018 to offer parents a first-of-its-kind, high quality infant formula they could feel confident — rather than guilty — feeding their babies. We chose to partner with the one infant formula manufacturer in the U.S. that is using their capacity to foster competition, to develop and launch our product. Today we are proud to be serving families all across the country.

The infant formula shortage has highlighted many cracks in the marketplace that must be addressed in order to prevent another crisis in the future. The American people want and deserve the best nutrition for their babies in terms of safety, quality, supply and options. We can do better by our babies.

Sincerely,

Laura Modi

CEO and Co-Founder

Bobbie

After hearing from our parent community about how the formula shortage was affecting them, we at Bobbie promised these parents we would help elevate their voices by setting up a line for parents to call and leave a message for Congress. Below are some of those messages collected from parents across the country.

1. I've had to figure out this formula thing all on my own and I've almost created a full time job out of trying to sort our formula and post on Facebook groups and all those things so I am frustrated at all the moms who are in the trenches have to deal with this themselves and they're not getting any outside support from their own government so yeah we and I specifically I'm very much hoping that this crisis just fuels change to support mothers and fathers and most of all children.
   
   
2. I'm a registered nurse, I work 12 hour shifts, I just had a baby, he is 4 months old now. My breast milk supply was wonderful until I had to go back to work and now it has shipped considerably and we're having the supplement with formula, which normally is not a problem but it is right now. So it's ridiculous that this is happening and that my family can't be taken care of in this country that has so much money, so much wealth, why are we struggling with something like infant formula that should feed our sweet precious babies? It shouldn't even be a thought in our minds but it is.
   
   
3. Hi I'm a mom in Roanoke Virginia I attempted to breastfeed my child and she ended up losing 12% of her body weight because my breast milk didn't have enough nutrients and she has severe allergies so we were forced to switch the formula which we didn't want to do but we did it we found a hypoallergenic formula which is impossible to find right now. And hearing people say why don't you breastfeed you're not a real mom is complete bullshit. I would love to breastfeed my child but I physically cannot do it! You need to do what needs to be done to get formula in this country.
   
   
4. Yeah it is bullshit! For this whole time parents felt like that on the island by themselves and no one's listening. It's always been about Abbott and what they did wrong; it's never about what we're going to do to make things different, to make things better. It's always focused on Abbott. You know parents have been suffering and we've been ringing alarm bells for a while now and people are finally starting to pay attention, but it's too little too late. Government says it, you know, they want to raise a responsible citizenry but they can't even be responsible for the most vulnerable amongst us.
   
   
5. I am hungry for change. I want to live in a country that takes care of the most vulnerable population of our people. The babies. That makes sure that they are fed and healthy. I rack my brain in disbelief by the fact that we are living in the United States of America and we cannot feed our babies because there is no formula to buy. It's outrageous it makes me distrust our leaders, it makes me resentful for the people that are in government. This is a national emergency and it needs to be fixed now.

About Bobbie:

Bobbie is an Organic Infant Formula company that exists to build a parenting culture of confidence, not comparison, where every parent is supported in the feeding choice that is right for them and their baby. Bobbie launched in 2021 as the only direct-to-consumer, subscription based infant formula company in the U.S. Bobbie is mom-founded and led and supported by a “Medical Motherboard” consisting of 11 advisors including pediatricians, dietitians, lactation consultants, doulas, nurses, OB/GYNs, scientists, and professionals who contribute their expertise to building a next-generation formula company. Bobbie’s recipe is modeled after breast milk and designed to meet the most recent EU nutritional standards for critical ingredients like DHA and iron, while also complying with all FDA nutritional standards for infant formula. Bobbie is focused on providing a purposefully sourced, USDA Organic infant formula with Organic Valley milk from pasture raised cows. With a point of view that what you put in formula is just as important as what you leave out, Bobbie does not include commonplace ingredients like corn syrup, palm oil, or maltodextrin. As a modern and purposeful company, Bobbie has donated more than 400,000 bottles and has supported the feeding journey of 65 mastectomy moms. As community driven first, Bobbie launched Milk-Drunk, a site offering straightforward answers, support, and information — along with The Feeding Confessionals, an interactive virtual safe space for parents. Bobbie was founded in 2018, is based in San Francisco, and is venture backed. For more information on Bobbie, visit www.hibobbie.com, and follow Bobbie on Instagram @bobbie.

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