"When we acquired this facility three years ago, we didn't just see a manufacturing plant — we saw the blueprint for a safer, more resilient industry, and with that, comes a heavy responsibility we do not take lightly," says Laura Modi, CEO and co-founder of Bobbie. "Unlocking this capacity didn't happen overnight; it took massive capital, relentless grit from our team on the ground and a deep commitment to quality and safety excellence. We are incredibly proud to cement Bobbie’s position as a formative leader in Ohio’s economic growth, powered by a local workforce that is quite literally nourishing the next generation of American babies."

Bobbie also has expanded its technical leadership at the facility, bringing on Casey Bauer as chief operations officer and James Ruddle as VP of quality. While the industry has faced significant scrutiny and challenge over the last several years, Bobbie continues its commitment to transparency and manufacturing excellence. The Ohio facility conducts more than 2,000 quality and safety checks per batch.

As COO, Bauer brings an extensive background in complex supply chain management and manufacturing excellence. He will lead Bobbie’s end-to-end operations, focusing on the continued expansion of the Ohio facility and the brand’s safety and quality standards.

“Unlocking infant formula production at this scale is a notoriously long and highly regulated process,” Bauer says. “Unlike traditional food manufacturing, infant nutrition requires extensive equipment validation, rigorous quality control pipelines and best-in-class safety standards. Our sustained investments over the last three years at our facility have centered on building a resilient, redundant supply chain from the ground up, ensuring that American families never have to worry about formula scarcity again.”

Ruddle has expertise in the infant formula industry, global quality systems and food safety. In his role as VP of quality, he will oversee the brand’s industry-leading testing protocols, which include screening for over 500 contaminants and setting unprecedented heavy metal standards for the infant formula industry.