Formula subscription service struggling to serve customers amid shortage
Laura Modi, founder and CEO of organic baby formula subscription service Bobbie, assesses the risks of the baby formula shortage plaguing the U.S.
Severe baby formula shortages are affecting moms and babies across the nation – with parents resorting to homemade formula recipes or watering down store-bought formula they have on hand. Others are going online and visiting countless stores in search of the nutrition needed to let their babies thrive.
Bobbie Organic Infant Formula founder Laura Modi says it is "not on moms to find a solution" for the ongoing problem, however.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 13: Baby formula is offered for sale at a big box store on January 13, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. Baby formula has been is short supply in many stores around the country for several months. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Modi weighed in on the formula crisis, telling Fox News' Julie Banderas on "America's Newsroom" Thursday which desperate behaviors parents should steer clear of:
"You should not be making formula in your kitchen, you shouldn't be rationing formula … and it's honestly not on the moms to have to find that solution," she said.
"It's on the government, it's on companies because, otherwise, it is going to create panic."
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Modi shared her company's struggles to meet demand amid the ongoing crisis, telling Banderas that the organic formula subscription service had to make a "hard decision" to stop accepting new customers.
"As soon as the recall hit … we saw exponential growth. A week following, our customer count doubled, and it didn't slow down to the point where we had to take a hard look at supply versus demand," she said.
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Banderas relayed a message from guest Bethany Mandel's Wednesday appearance on "America's Newsroom," stressing that watering down formula could cause electrolyte imbalances in babies and homemade formula could lack nutrients essential for infant brain development.
"Infant formula is an essential good," Modi emphasized, "This isn't a pantry product; this is the only alternative to breast milk – allowing a baby to thrive – and we have to realize that, in absence of having that product, we're going to see some dangerous behaviors…"