ByHeart, a next-generation baby nutrition company, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Cascadia Nutrition, an FDA-registered packaging and blending facility in Portland, OR. The acquisition will serve to further ByHeart’s goal of diversifying and building resilient, high-quality infant formula production in the U.S. by achieving complete end-to-end control and oversight of product manufacturing.
ByHeart is acquiring Cascadia from the Balogh family and DPI Group, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to the packaging process while identifying and creating job opportunities for individuals with employment barriers. Cascadia has been packaging infant formula for international brands for the past 5 years; pending FDA registration, ByHeart’s acquisition will enable the facility to begin serving the U.S. market, further strengthening the country’s resilience against future shortages. The facility’s commitment to impact and highest quality standards is closely aligned with ByHeart’s culture and values. As part of the acquisition, ByHeart will not only maintain the facility’s existing workforce but also employ members of the Balogh family, ensuring that their mission remains steadfast.
“We are very pleased to join forces with a partner who shares our vision of bringing high-quality infant formula to babies and parents everywhere, an urgency widely recognized during the current infant formula shortage. As a result of its five year regulatory and clinical journey, ByHeart is now uniquely positioned to serve the needs of the U.S. infant formula market with the only new dedicated packaging facility, pending FDA registration,” said Ashley Balogh, President of Cascadia.
ByHeart has provided the FDA a regulatory submission to complete the requirements for registering Cascadia for the U.S. infant formula market. In parallel, the company will begin integrating Cascadia packaging into its fully owned manufacturing supply chain, and expects to resume supplying its customers with its high-quality infant formula in the second quarter of the year.
“As a company committed to parents, our goal has always been full ownership and oversight of our end-to-end manufacturing process. We managed to achieve that goal with the exception of packaging which was conducted by a reputable third-party partner while we worked towards bringing that piece in-house,” said Ron Belldegrun, CEO and co-founder. “This acquisition will enable full control over our manufacturing process so that we can deliver a product at the highest standards of quality, safety and reliability for our ByHeart families. The Cascadia acquisition represents another important step forward as we continue to expand our investments in manufacturing infrastructure, infant formula innovation, and industry-leading quality standards.”
Founded in 2016 and based in New York City with manufacturing and packaging facilities in Pennsylvania and Oregon, ByHeart is a next-generation baby nutrition company dedicated to empowering parents with choices for a better feeding future. ByHeart is the first new infant formula manufacturer to be registered with the FDA in over 15 years, and its next-generation, easy-to-digest infant formula is defined by nutritional excellence and a farm-to-formula verified™ quality program. For more information on ByHeart, visit https://byheart.com.
