The Startup CPG Podcast


In this special R&D Radio episode, guest host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Casey Bauer, COO of Bobbie, one of only four infant formula manufacturers in the United States, to dig into what "test obsessed" really means when your product is a baby's sole source of nutrition.


Casey has spent almost a year at Bobbie overseeing quality, regulatory, and supply chain, following roles as COO at Kate Farms, a leading medical nutrition company, and operations leadership at Pharmavite (Nature Made) and Nutrabolt. That background in sole-source and medical nutrition shaped how seriously he takes food safety at Bobbie, where the company runs over 2,000 safety and quality checks and manufactures under one roof at its facility in Heath, Ohio.


Caitlin and Casey cover what it means to be one of only four infant formula manufacturers in the U.S., how Bobbie tests raw materials, bulk powder, and finished cans for redundancy, why the company still partners with a contract manufacturer even with in-house production growing nearly 300% year over year, and how the Bobbie promise protects subscriber inventory during shortages and recalls.


Listen in as they discuss:

  • The added pressure and responsibility of being one of only four infant formula manufacturers in the U.S.
  • What "test obsessed" looks like in practice, including 2,000+ safety and quality checks per product
  • Why Bobbie tests at multiple stages, from raw materials to bulk powder to the finished can
  • How evolving test methods and lower detection limits continually raise Bobbie's own safety bar
  • Why Bobbie still partners with a contract manufacturer even as in-house production scales
  • How Bobbie's transparency tracker lets any customer look up testing results by lot number
  • What the Bobbie promise is and how it protects subscriber inventory during shortages and recalls
  • Lessons from the 2022 infant formula shortage and what other food and beverage brands can learn from it
  • Why domestic manufacturing and staying close to the supply chain matters for food safety
  • How Bobbie vets and continuously monitors new supply chain partners through audits and ongoing reviews


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  • Episode music by Super Fantastics

Creators and Guests

Host
Caitlin Bricker
Managing Editor @ Startup CPG

What is The Startup CPG Podcast?

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Casey Bauer
There's obviously a big feeling of responsibility when you're one of only four and knowing that you're manufacturing something that's sole source. And so basically it's the only form of nutrition. And this is something. When I was at Cape Farms, we did the same thing. So the level of importance of food safety and quality and everything that goes into our process is just that much more critical. And it make sure that we don't skip any steps, we don't take shortcuts, we test religiously on our product because it's just so critical when it's the only form of nutrition that babies get, that we put a lot of effort into everything that we do being one of those four manufacturers.

00:51
Caitlin Bricker
Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. Today we have a very special R and D radio episode for you. I'm chatting with Casey Bauer, COO of Bobbie, a leading infant formula brand in the United States. We're diving into what test obsessed means in formula manufacturing. The Bobbie promise that protects subscriber inventory during recalls and shortages. Why bringing manufacturing in house changed everything for the brand, and why food safety is the one place you never want to cut corners. As a mom myself, safety and transparency was something I was looking for when I was making a formula purchase while I was pregnant. It was a just in case item in case I was not able to breastfeed. As I learned more about Bobbie, it was a no brainer decision for me as a mom.

01:36
Caitlin Bricker
If you're a brand, hopefully you'll be walking away from this episode with some notes you can take back to your team and put that same sentiment of trust and transparency into your products and make your brand a no brainer for consumers everywhere. I am so glad that I had that can of Bobbie on hand because my daughter decided one day, you know what, I don't want to be breastfed anymore. And who was there for me? Bobbie was, as always. Enjoy. Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. This is Caitlyn and today I'm here with Casey Bauer, COO of Bobbie. Casey, welcome to the show.

02:12
Casey Bauer
Thanks so much, Caitlin. I'm excited to be here.

02:14
Caitlin Bricker
It's really great to have you here. We decided to have you on the show because as many people may or may not know, there has been botulism outbreaks linked to baby formula and Bobbie is the only formula brand language that I speak as a former Bobbie mom and a current Bobbie lover. So I figured let's call somebody from Bobbie onto the show and let's talk about food safety. And operations. And let's just hear from the pros. So before we get into anything further, can you just tell us very simply what Bobbie is?

02:48
Casey Bauer
Yeah. So Bobbie is a leading infant formula brand and we're, I think, the fourth largest in the United States right now. We have domestic manufacturing and have been growing quite a bit. But excited to be here and excited to talk a little bit more to your viewers.

03:02
Caitlin Bricker
I'm very excited to have you here. I'm excited to dive into all things Bobbie with you. Can we hear a little bit more about your background?

03:09
Casey Bauer
Yeah, my background. So I've been at Bobbie for almost 11 months. That's gone by very quickly, as you might imagine. As the COO at Bobbie, I oversee quality, regulatory, supply chain, and prior to this, I was the chief operations officer at a company called Cape Farms, which is a leading medical nutrition company. So that's a little bit about me further back. I've done a lot of other food and wellness stuff. I worked in the operations group at Farmavite, which is nature made vitamins, as well as Nutribullt, which is a leading sports nutrition company.

03:39
Caitlin Bricker
I would say too, for me as a mom, hearing that as part of your background makes me feel this other level of comfort when it comes to choosing a formula brand. I already have a formula fed baby. She was breastfed for seven months and one day she decided, I don't want this anymore. And luckily I had a can of Bobbie at the ready as backup for her. And I think that I was very comfortable in making this decision because of everything that Bobbie does as a company and puts forth in their marketing. And they really stand behind everything that they say. And hearing more from you about your background and what you've done in the past and now that you're here with Bobbie, it makes me feel even more comfortable having made that decision for my daughter. So I'm really curious.

04:27
Caitlin Bricker
No pressure, of course. You, as Bobbie are one of four formula manufacturers in the United States. What kind of pressure does that feel like for you as a company? Because I feel pressure for you as a mom, and we feel pressure to make those decisions for babies, to choose the right formula brand for our babies. So tell me what it's like being just one of four manufacturers in the United States.

04:55
Casey Bauer
Yeah, it's a great question. There's obviously a big feeling of responsibility when you're one of only four and knowing that you're manufacturing something that's sole source. And so basically it's the only form of nutrition. And this is something When I was at Cape Farms, we did the same thing. So the level of importance of food safety and quality and everything that goes into our process is just that much more critical. And it makes sure that we don't skip any steps, we don't take shortcuts, we test religiously on our product because it's just so critical when it's only form of nutrition that babies get, that we put a lot of effort into everything that we do. Being one of those four manufacturers.

05:36
Caitlin Bricker
And I've heard Bobbie tossing around this phrase of being test obsessed. Can you tell us what that looks like? What is being test obsessed in a formula company look like?

05:46
Casey Bauer
Absolutely. So for us, it all starts with the process. So the process has to be great. We need to be just maniacal about making sure that we follow the process, put all of the preventative measures in, but that is never a hundred percent. We spend a lot of time also looking at what can we do from a testing perspective. How can we ensure that our 2,000 plus safety checks and quality checks are there to validate that everything that we're doing through that process ensures that we say is in the can. The things and the contaminants that we don't want in the can aren't in the can. And the thing that I am a big believer in is we do it at multiple places throughout the process.

06:24
Casey Bauer
With Bobbie, we manufacture under one roof in our facility in Heath, Ohio, but we test raw materials, we test our bulk powder. So basically, as we make the powder, we go for a period of testing and then we test it again on the finished can. That redundancy is something that to me, helps me sleep better at night. Making sure that especially as it comes to those contaminants and things like food safety and pathogens, and that we can rest a little easier knowing that we've done what we can to ensure that when it gets into your baby's mouth, we've done everything we can to prevent any food safety risk.

06:57
Caitlin Bricker
Can you share a little bit about what that's looked like implementing these testing processes and how you've decided, okay, we have this testing that we started with and now we're going to additional testing in. Where do you find is the right time, that sweet spot, to start adding in more testing for your facilities and for your products?

07:17
Casey Bauer
I love that question. It's an evolutionary thing. So just like anything else, technology, your iPhone getting better, testing technology gets better too. And so we're constantly reviewing what we call our test methods to make sure. That a lot of those improvements get baked into our testing and so that we can always give the most assurance to our customers. One of the ones that we're really excited about, we recently partnered with IH Laboratories who is the first one to develop a method for testing for CVOT spores and a lot of powdered milk products which we use as an input into our products. And so we've rolled that into our testing protocol as well. We're constantly improving things like our detection limits.

08:00
Casey Bauer
So as we look at things, for example, like some of the contaminants with heavy metals methods get better and so those detection limits get lower. And so we're constantly looking for ways to try and improve. How can we leverage that? How can we give more assurance to our consumers? So that's something that we constantly do and we pride ourselves on.

08:19
Caitlin Bricker
And you mentioned this already, but you are manufacturing everything in house. You're not outsourcing to a co man, which from my understanding you were in the past. Correct.

08:29
Casey Bauer
So let me give some validation. We actually still do both. So we manufacture in house. Our facility in Heath, Ohio, we've increased our year over year. Throughput has increased by almost 300%. We've almost over doubled I think at this point the workforce year over year. But we're still not enough to meet the demands of everything. So we still partner with a contract manufacturer. So that quality piece goes a step further. It means that we need to go to our partners facility. But we used to rely solely on the contract manufacturers. Now that's not the case. Now we have a lot of the manufacturing in house and that's also helps, to be frank, get us more educated on the process and smarter on things that we need to look for.

09:10
Casey Bauer
And we always try to take that back to our contract manufacturers through our partnership with them to make sure that they implement those improvements as well.

09:17
Caitlin Bricker
That is really good insight and I feel like that's a really good perspective for other brands to hear too. That being able to see everything that's happening behind the scenes, but in your own facility and being able to then lay the groundwork and the foundation for your co man is really impressive. And I think it adds this other layer of transparency not only for your team but for co man as well. Because now you can say, okay, you do hold the keys in a sense, but this is how we want to see it done. I think that's really cool.

09:49
Casey Bauer
Awesome. Thank you for that. Yeah, we're excited about that. And those partnerships are crucial. We want to make sure that we share that. And to be honest, it's not even just about our combance, it's about the industry in general. We want to be stewards of the industry. So as we find new innovative ways, things that we believe can improve food safety, we try to share them when we can. So hopefully it helps improve the industry too. We want every consumer out there, every mom or dad out there that's feeding their baby's formula to feel confident about what they're putting in their baby's body, even if it's not a Bobbie product, to be frank, we really want to be stewards of the industry in that way.

10:24
Caitlin Bricker
I think that's so respectable and I've always come back to this term when I think of Bobbie and Bobbie's practices as being the gold standard, quite frankly in the industry because of the transparency that's not just amongst your team, but it's also something that you're sharing with your customers too and in your marketing. And I think it's really something that brands can look to and take notes for their own brands. And. And I am really curious too, because you mentioned the dialing up or down on the levels for contaminants because you are working with a coman and because you do have your own facility, is that something that you are able to call the shots for or is that up to your testing facilities? How does that work?

11:08
Casey Bauer
Yeah, so that's something that we own as a brand. So when we go through and establish a product, we build out what we call finish good product specification. So it basically is everything that has to do with that product, what goes into it, what tests should be run, what test method should be used to validate the outputs of those acceptable ranges. That's all defined by our team. And as I mentioned, this is something we're constantly reviewing. We're trying to be on the cutting edge. So we partner closely with these laboratories. And so if they come back to me and say, hey Casey, great news, I just got new test method where we can take the detection limit from 5 parts per billion of something down to 2 parts per billion. Awesome. Let's go ahead, let's roll that in.

11:49
Casey Bauer
And if it's at a contract manufacturer, we'll partner with the contract manufacturer to update those finished good product specifications and hold ourselves now to that tighter limit that's really important to us.

11:59
Caitlin Bricker
Got it. And what do you feel like radical transparency looks like when it comes to testing and sharing with your customers?

12:08
Casey Bauer
Yeah, good question. And in fact, it's something that we've recently taken to heart. So we've added our transparency tracker. So any consumer can go online, they can enter their lot number and they can actually look at the testing that was done on their lot of products specifically. They don't need to just trust, hey, it's on the shelf here at Target. I think it's okay. They can go actually do that validation. And we're constantly pushing ourselves to add to that transparency. So as we do that, we're trying to build confidence in our consumers and I trust that we're going to continue to try to push the envelope there where we can and give that transparency and that peace of mind back to consumers. As a dad, I know that's really important to me.

12:46
Casey Bauer
And so we're trying to give that to all of our consum and you.

12:49
Caitlin Bricker
Just mentioned Target as a retailer. I have to know because I know that you are a subscription based brand and you're also available in retail stores now. So when something like a recall comes up, how do you manage that relationship with your retailers? When obviously a recall is going to put more pressure on brands who are still manufacturing and putting product out on shelves. I would think that you're prioritizing the relationship with subscribers. But how do you manage that relationship with retailers when that extra pressure is put on the brand to increase production and provide more in both places on the retail channel and D2C?

13:29
Casey Bauer
Yeah, very good question. So we always partner very closely with the retailers, especially when we see something like a recall industry that's a big deal and it puts a lot of pressure on them. They're one of the key ways that consumers go and get infant formula. And as we saw in 2022 with what happens with Abbotts, that can wreak havoc. And so we're in close constant contact with them. We've shared details about our operations with the retailers. We also try to preserve a healthy amount of inventory and that inventory policy protects against some of these things. Now you never know. You never know the level of spikes. So it may not be perfect but it definitely gives us a little bit of cushion on the D2C side.

14:08
Casey Bauer
We actually have ever promise and this is one of the things that actually brought me to Bobbie because I was so impressed with it. In 2022 when the formula shortage happened, I had a lot of friends who were affected but I heard about the Bobbie promise and sure enough, every single time that a subscriber goes online and subscribes to Bobbie, that immediately ties back into our inventory policies and we ensure that Inventory is protected for that consumer through their baby's whole journey. And that just gives a peace of mind, especially seeing what's going on to any parent that wants to make sure, hey, yeah, this is something I'm concerned about. I want to make sure I've got formula for my baby. We've got a way to give them that Bobbie promise that, hey, we got you. We got your inventory covered.

14:50
Casey Bauer
If you subscribe to us, we subscribe to you.

14:52
Caitlin Bricker
You know, it's 2022 that the Bobbi promise also came across my radar. I wasn't even pregnant yet, and I frankly, probably was not even thinking about getting pregnant at the time. But I was just so impressed and blown away by that. If you subscribe to us, we subscribe to you. And I think it made so much sense from an inventory planning standpoint that even brands so large scale as Bobbie, brands that are new and emerging, can also learn from that too, because you are able to plan better if you're having people subscribe to you because you can know essentially what you're able to produce and what you're likely not going to produce. And hopefully you can plan so that you have everybody taking care of yourselves and your customers altogether. I remember that being something that really stood out to me.

15:43
Caitlin Bricker
I had friends who were looking formula on the shelves. They couldn't find formulas for their babies. They were breastfeeding or not breastfeeding. And I remember going into stores not knowing what I was looking for. I just knew that I was looking formula. So when it came time to making that decision for myself on who I was going to go with, if it came down to bottle feeding, I knew it was going to be Bobbie because of that promise. So it's cool to hear your perspective, not only from taking care of the subscribers, but also hearing the perspective when it comes to working with your retail partners, too. So thanks for that insight.

16:18
Casey Bauer
Love that. Yeah, like I said, that was near and dear to my heart as well. From inventory planning, it definitely helps, but to me, it also showcases the values at Bobbie. Right. It's so easy. Imagine during that formula shortage, imagine how many new customers Bobbie could have tried to just go grab really quickly as opposed to take the inventory that they had built up and say, no, no, we're going to protect the consumers that we have today as partners. It's a very different mindset, but it just shows you the mission that Laura built and one of the key ways that we're trying to deliver against it. So, yeah, for me, I was just so blown away by that. That was one of the biggest draws when I got the opportunity to join Bobbie.

16:56
Caitlin Bricker
What do you think all food and beverage brands can learn from these recalls? When it comes to food safety inventory, there are so many different things that we could touch on. But what comes to mind for you first? For what other food and beverage brands can learn from this?

17:11
Casey Bauer
Yeah. So I can't speak for all the other brands out there, but I can tell you my takeaway. And my takeaway is you never get to that place of being a hundred percent safe. You can minimize risk. That risk is always there and you need to be just maniacally focused on it. I remember when our first baby, my oldest son's named Tanner, and you get all the baby proofing stuff for your house. Right. When we had our second kid, Chase, I remember going around and you have a different view almost because you've now had a baby, you've seen it fall, you've seen it do all the things and you're like, oh my gosh, like, no, he's going to pull on that and that thing's going to fall. And now I need to change this.

17:50
Casey Bauer
And it's kind of how it works with food safety too. You see recalls and you're like, oh my gosh, well, what could happen? You walk through and there's the level of the regulations and you make sure that you're compliant with the regulations, but you're constantly going through and saying, what else? What else can I do? How else can this go wrong? Every time you walk through your facility to try to keep upping the bar and keep lowering that risk, but you just never quite get it to zero. But you have to be very focused and minimize those risks as much as possible.

18:19
Caitlin Bricker
I think that's a really good perspective yet again.

18:22
Casey Bauer
Oh, thank you.

18:23
Caitlin Bricker
No surprise there. Is there anything from your years prior to working at Bobbie that your experience, you felt like, okay, this was something that happened or this was something that I learned. And now I'm going to take it through my years at Bobbie and see what I can do to apply it. Anything that pops out in your mind that you feel like you want to.

18:44
Casey Bauer
Share in my prior life with Kate Farms again, being that sole source nutrition and there it was, medical nutrition. So it was older than one, but still a large percentage. What we dealt with was the pediatric population, so the younger kids that had significant illness and it's just this increased focus on quality and food safety when you're dealing with that type of population of who's consuming Your product. You know, my times at nutribullet and you're dealing with healthy adults and things like that, it's one thing. But when you take it down into sick kids or infants, the bar just keeps raising. And so it's one of the things I've enjoyed about this role is it really gives you more and more permission to focus on the quality and food safety aspect of the job.

19:28
Casey Bauer
So that's been something I keep taking away and keep trying to build on. And it's something that I try to make sure my team holds near and dear to their heart as well. And a reminder of who we're servicing. We're servicing an infant that doesn't have a fully developed microbiome, doesn't have a fully developed immune system, doesn't have the things that you and I have now, later in life. And so we need to be that much more cautious in everything that we do.

19:52
Caitlin Bricker
It is interesting because, like you're talking about the pediatric population and infants, these products are not nice to have. They're necessities for many families. So I can only imagine that the amount of pressure that's being put on your brand, that's being put on Bobbie, that's putting on customers as well. So to be able to walk through everything that you've done with food safety and being able to ensure as much as you possibly can, we all know that safety is a spectrum. Being able to ensure the safety that you've put in place is, I think, really admirable.

20:28
Casey Bauer
Oh, thank you. We take it very seriously. And it's something that down from Laura and myself down to every associate on the floor, it is the number one job is to ensure that we deliver a safe, effective product to every parent out there.

20:42
Caitlin Bricker
And can you touch on why American made versus domestic manufacturing matters for a brand like Bobbie?

20:50
Casey Bauer
Yeah, for me, it's really critical every time that you get closer to the facility and I get a chance to actually go walk the floor, see the product, touch the product, hold it helps ensure that I'm one step closer from a food safety perspective to everything that's happening. And so for me, that's absolutely critical to have our supply chain and our manufacturing as close to us as we possibly can and look for some of our materials and some of the ingredients out there. That's not possible. They don't exist within in the US but we try to take that into account as much as we possibly can just to protect that supply chain and ensure it's covered from a supply assurance standpoint. And again, from a food safety standpoint, we're as close as we possibly can be to it.

21:34
Caitlin Bricker
Can you share a little bit about what it looks like to lock in a supply chain partner and maybe some instances of scenarios where you thought, okay, this is a red flag, you don't have to tell me what they were, but this is a red flag. This is how we're going to move forward and look for the next supply chain partner.

21:52
Casey Bauer
Yeah. And of course you always look for those red flags and those issues before you start doing anything with that partner. Right. So we have really robust supplier qualification program. So every time that we go through and find a new partner that we think we could be a good partner for us and really help support the Bobbie supply chain. We do on site audits and visits. We have kind of detailed questionnaires. We try to understand their testing policies and everything that they do to ensure that they are going to set up food safety in the same way that we do. And then we do it like it's not a okay, one and done checkbox. We're done. It really is an ongoing thing. We're constantly going out, we're visiting them, we're partners.

22:33
Casey Bauer
We make sure that we stay up on all the documentation requirements, like everything that's needed to give us the confidence that this is in fact a high quality supplier. Those are things that we always follow up and make sure are consistently done.

22:46
Caitlin Bricker
Amazing. Any pieces of advice that you want to give to any new and emerging brands who are looking to get into CPG or currently manufacturing their own products, given all of your experience?

22:58
Casey Bauer
No. Other than to say, always prioritize food safety and quality. That's the table stakes. Right. Like that. You have to absolutely have that. You can always look at how can I become more profitable, how can I move faster, how can I scale? How can I get into this retailer? But the one thing that can cause it all to fall apart is food safety or quality issues. So that's be my one recommendation. That's the one place you don't cut corners. That's the one place where you always need to get more attention than you think you need to.

23:26
Caitlin Bricker
There you go. You heard it here first. Hopefully not, but you heard it here. Kasey, it's been a blast talking to you. I've really enjoyed getting to learn more about the behind the scenes with Bobbie. And before we go, could you share the Bobbie website so anybody listening can go and give you a follow?

23:43
Casey Bauer
Yeah, for sure. So our website is hiBobbie.com, so h I b o B-B-I-E.com perfect.

23:52
Caitlin Bricker
Kasey. Thank you again. Please give everybody at the Bobbie team a big thank you from me. I got a nice little Bobbie hat. Now I can be a walking billboard for you.

24:03
Casey Bauer
I love it.

24:04
Caitlin Bricker
I tell all of my mom friends and soon to be parent friends about Bobbie and hopefully I can share this episode with them too to just give them a little bit more peace of mind.

24:14
Casey Bauer
I love it. Thank you so much for that Caitlin. Really appreciate it. Thank you.

24:17
Caitlin Bricker
Thanks for being here and everybody go give Bobbie a follow and have a great day. CPG BFFs We've now arrived together at the end of another episode of the Startup CPG Podcast. As you may know, we're not just the top globally ranked CPG podcast. We're a community of tens of thousands of CPG founders and experts and you should join us. If you haven't already. Head to startupcpg.com to sign up. You'll get an invite to our Slack community, hear about events near you, and get access to opportunities that connect you with buyers, investors and other brands. It's free. So what are you waiting for? I'll see you in Slack and in real life. Thanks for listening.