ByHeart - Rebuilding Infant Formula from the Ground Up

Ramon Vela (00:02.487)
Welcome back everyone. This is Ramon Vela and I have an amazing show. Today I have Mia Fundt and Ron Valdegrand who are co-founders of By Heart. Welcome to the show.

Mia And Ron (00:32.344)
Thanks so much for having us. Great to be here. Thanks, Ramon.

Ramon Vela (00:35.491)
Well, I appreciate you guys making time. You're running a company, so I know this is, your time is very precious, but I appreciate you being on the show, letting our listeners learn about your story and why you do what you do and how you do what you do. And this part is actually very, very important in my opinion. And this is one of the reasons why I'm gonna ask my next question, which is a gratitude question. I love to take the brand,

and bring it down to a very human sort of person to person level. Because I really believe it's important. It's so easy for consumers to see products on the shelf or online and really just think like it's some faceless corporation. And I really want people to know that there's real people behind these brands that bleed sweat and tear over the product, that care deeply about the quality, about the consumer, about the parents, about the kids, about everyone and really work hard.

to produce their product. And one way of kind of making it more, kind of humanizing this is by knowing who you are. And one way of doing that is by understanding what you're grateful for. So if you don't mind, can you share a moment or a memory when someone did something for you that just made you feel grateful because it meant that they believed in you, your vision or your potential.

Mia And Ron (01:58.37)
Yeah, I can start. I would say, you know, as a entrepreneur, you're taking on new difficult challenges every day. There is a new challenge around every corner. Also, the reason that you're even in this is to challenge the status quo, do things differently. In our case, we had to do things really differently to reinvent feeding and do better for babies and their parents. And I would say

I am truly grateful to be on that journey with Ron, who is not just my co-founder, but my brother. And I think that in those moments of challenge, when you have to ask yourself, are you all in? And are you committed to this mission and this vision? To have that strength of that co-founder partnership and also with your sibling is something I am grateful for endlessly. That started all the way back in October 2016 when we

kicked off this journey and started, but it's something that I am continually grateful for as we embark on challenges constantly day after day.

Ramon Vela (03:08.225)
Wow, no, I appreciate that. And Ron?

Mia And Ron (03:11.758)
Well, it's tough to follow that way. of all, I'm grateful for you. I'll take this in maybe a slightly different direction. think one of the early moments that really was kind of like belief in our vision that I think was, you know, that me and I are grateful for was actually the first ingredient supplier, like our first partner who supplies us one of our really important proteins, actually signing up and jumping in to work with us. And I know that sounds ridiculous, but if you imagine eight years ago,

Ramon Vela (03:14.755)
the

Mia And Ron (03:42.094)
We're sitting down with these ingredient companies and saying, you know what, we aren't going to build from scratch an entire supply chain for infant formula manufacturing in the country. We're going to run the largest clinical trial in 25 years. We're going to get it FDA approved. And we are going to be the first company of our 15 years to break in to this most important category of infant formula. That's what we're going to do. And we want to partner with you. And we need access to your ingredient. It's normal that a lot of companies said,

Ramon Vela (03:54.263)
Hmm.

Mia And Ron (04:11.074)
Guys, I sell 80 % of my ingredients to the two companies that have dominated for 100 years. Come back to me in eight years, you know, when you figure this out. And one of the really secret challenges of this category is you can't come back in eight years. You can't do anything without getting all the ingredients, building your recipe to start the journey. But in that moment, what we heard from that group was, wow, you have an amazing scientific advisory board, real experts around the table. You guys are running a really scientific clinical study. We haven't seen that in long time. We want to be part of it.

Ramon Vela (04:15.523)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mia And Ron (04:40.526)
and let's do this. And so we spent a lot of time negotiating and all these things where from a revenue perspective, it wouldn't matter to them for eight years. And so it started sort of a relationship on a different basis to do better for babies, to really kind of change the game here. And I think that was really inspiring and also reinforcing that companies in the space, no matter how large they were, how long they've been in this, they wanted to do better too.

Ramon Vela (04:49.303)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (05:05.922)
Well.

Mia And Ron (05:05.964)
and they were willing to take a chance on us. and now eight years later, they're still same suppliers that we've been on this journey with for eight years, which is really special.

Ramon Vela (05:08.375)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (05:15.457)
Wow. And I appreciate you both sharing it. And both of those really go to the heart of the question because we need a support network that believes in us. Sometimes before we do the things that we want to do before things get started. And sometimes even before we are 100 % ourselves know that we can do what we want to do.

And to have the support network, especially as an entrepreneur is just so, so crucial, you know, and having, of course, someone that you know and trust, you know, a family member, your brother there, I would imagine makes it even more special. But it's, it's, it's a partnership and a relationship still that, you know, is one that an entrepreneur needs, whether it's an outside advisor or not. You're going to say, Mia?

Mia And Ron (06:09.026)
Yeah, I think we're so lucky that we're dealing with something so human, feeding your baby. It's something that people who have joined us on this journey feel so deeply a connection to, that mission to want to do better for babies and their parents, for wanting to finally create the best infant formula in the world that you can feel confident to feed your baby. And so it is brought together, whether it's scientists who have been

studying breast milk for decades and want to make formulas that are closer to breast milk so that they work harder to support babies' health, this foundational health. Or whether it's investors or most importantly the team, you know, it's just really special to be in a category where people can feel so deeply passionate about that mission and then join in and together be this force taking it on.

And you need that, especially when you're doing something that has so many challenges, a category that's been fortified for so long and owned by just two players. And so having that strength and having that kind of team power is everything.

Ramon Vela (07:22.603)
Yeah, I 100 % agree. And to your example, Ron, it's really interesting to me, especially because this industry and this product category has been mostly like two companies kind of doing it all. It's really interesting to me that these ingredient companies would take a chance on you. There was something about you guys

and how you guys were approaching it and what you were putting together. But I would also dare say that they themselves can see the marketplace and see that there was more innovation that was needed, right? Or there was something different that was needed. And so, that's actually, that's a huge validator or validation point.

you know, for you guys, would imagine. Is that how you guys understood it at the time?

Mia And Ron (08:22.85)
Absolutely. Imagine when we started the company eight years ago, there were four companies that manufactured infant formula in the country. Three of them owned 90 % of the market. So they're not manufacturing for a new entrant. And every newcomer in the last 20 years had taken the same expedited approach, which is if you go to the one and only contract manufacturer in the country, there's just one, and you stay the same as their recipe from 15 years ago. Stay the same as that from 15 years ago. You can skip.

the five years of work required by FDA to bring a new and confirmed in the market clinical studies, animal studies, et cetera. The problem is you can't change anything. You're referencing 15 year old science and you're putting a label on a can and you're a marketing company and you're proliferating skews to the shelf, but you're not bringing new breast milk science. And at the same time, part of the reason we started this company is because actually there's never been a better time.

to do better for babies. We have characterized breast milk and understand what drives its benefits, what really sets up the immune system, the microbiome makes it easy to digest. Food science and nutrition science is having its moment. mean, we as in our adult lives have become so focused on taking control of our health through what we eat and being proactive about nutrition. And nowhere is that more important than the first hundred years of life. So me and I saw a moment in time where all the tools were available. And to your point, I think we...

connected with other stakeholders and partners and ingredient providers that we never thought of as suppliers. We thought of as partners who wanted to innovate. think they too saw there are all the tools there to do better, but it would require a path that no new entrant has taken in decades to really build an entire supply chain from scratch, really innovate a new product, run major clinical trials. That took, you know, six long years before we came into market, but it was sort of the

the hard way, but we think the right way to really do justice to it is this original superfood, you know, as humans of breast milk and doing our best to get as close to it as possible and driving those real important benefits in this foundational year of life. Yeah, I think they felt frustrated like we did that the science, the breast milk science had advanced so much. We understood how we could make formulas closer to breast milk than ever before.

Ramon Vela (10:24.163)
you

Mia And Ron (10:43.938)
but the work wasn't being done. The research had outpaced the innovation in the category and we needed to do better for parents and for babies. I came into this as a mom, deeply frustrated, not necessarily knowing about the science, but frustrated by the parent experience. mean, when I had my daughter and I was breastfeeding and then I wanted to go back to work, I looked at the formula options on the shelf and I said, how is it possible that I can't

find a single formula that makes me feel really proud to feed this to my baby that I know is the closest thing to breast milk that I know has the benefits that my baby needs for their immune system and their gut and their brain, but also through clean ingredients that I feel good about. No matter what I chose, I was either choosing the one that supported brain health or immune health or had clean ingredients. It was like...

what I was looking for seemed so obvious. I wanted one formula that delivered those health benefits through clean ingredients that I could feel great about. And it didn't exist. And when we started talking to hundreds and thousands of parents, they all felt that same frustration. And so whatever angle you came at it from, whether it was an ingredient provider or scientist or parent, the job to be done was so obvious and we all knew we had to do better for babies. This is foundational health, the work had to be done.

Ramon Vela (12:09.571)
And I am curious, Ron, from your perspective, how did you first, how did you, like, what was your why in starting this? Because I also would imagine that the reason why things haven't changed is because it's so difficult, right? Like you have to wait, you have to do all these trials, there's government regulations and there's approvals and all sorts of other things. And I think it just scares people away from,

from attempting this type of stuff. And maybe that's by design, who knows? But, but also, it just also means that you both had a tremendous like fire in the valley to make this happen. So, and I'm curious, Ron, what was your perspective from it? Like from your personal why and how you got started.

Mia And Ron (13:02.104)
Yeah, when we started the business, you I wasn't yet married to my wonderful wife. I had no children and people would ask me like, why do you know so much about breast milk? It's a little bit creepy even maybe. But my way in was quite different. mean, before I started the company with Mia eight years ago, I had been immersed in this category for kind of over 10 years, kind of investing and researching and being in this space. And I stumbled upon a company in 2008 that was pioneering an ingredient.

you know, in infant formula, started following the category. And honestly, I fell in love with the science of the category. imagine like there's how many other examples of this perfect superfood that has like over our time of humans has existed to really like in the first six develop a baby's immune system, grow, not just grow a baby, but develop every single, every single system developing and

I was immersed in the life science space and in that category and just kind of was amazed by the amount of progress, but then deeply frustrated that I'd listened to kind of the industry at large where just a couple of companies had dominated for a hundred years. know, effectively we're doing 30, 40, 50 different core businesses.

And instead of, you know, we thought if we could focus on just infant nutrition, and if we built a company that all we did was build and obsess over every step of that process from holding ingredients to the highest standards that we did directly to owning our own manufacturing, developing our own small batch process, running major clinical trials, taking fresh eyes to the space, and just continuing to reinvest into doing better for infants like.

how amazing that could be. And when I got more and more frustrated with this category and then started talking more to Mia, who was experiencing the category with her then just under one year old, who's now nine, which is crazy to think about, you know, it sort of came together and that was really my why. then, know, seven, eight years later, I got to feed my second little guy by heart. And, you know, that's an experience as a parent to build a company for seven years and then feed your little guy the product. But that was sort of my way in.

Ramon Vela (15:10.103)
Mm.

Ramon Vela (15:19.299)
.

Ramon Vela (15:26.947)
And I am curious, normally I, when someone tells me that they run their own manufacturing, I often think from a business standpoint, it's an investment, right? Like it takes time from a business standpoint to put a lot of capital in to build your own facility. Eventually, I think it, know, if run well,

it can be a great investment. you can help control costs, you can really help control quality control, that kind of stuff. But it is quite an upfront endeavor, right, to do that. And typically from a business standpoint, I think, you know what, you can have the capital and you can do it, I think it's a good idea. However, I'm wondering from your guys' perspective, was this not only just a business idea, like a

you a business strategy, but was it one that you felt like you needed to do in order to create the product that you wanted to create?

Mia And Ron (16:29.068)
Yeah, for us, it wasn't a business idea or an investment. It was a necessity to create the product we wanted to create. And so often, you know, people will say, you know, talk to other entrepreneurs and say, Hey, like, should I buy my own facility? Should I? And my question is always the same. Will it help you create a better product? Right. And the end of the day, I mean, I described kind of the way into this, this category, right. It was either white label, a 15 year old product, put a label on it and be a marketing company.

Ramon Vela (16:45.923)
Mm-hmm.

Mia And Ron (16:59.464)
or build an entire supply chain and that was the only way to actually take fresh eyes to the category and ask why would infant formulas still be made with skim milk and whey protein concentrate when that is really far from breast milk? We want to change that answer. Or why would, you know, they still be including ingredients that we don't want in our own diets, much less our babies? We want to change that. And the only way to change it

was actually to first build a supply chain because at the time, the only path was, if you went to one kind of manufacturer and stayed the same as an old recipe, then you could skip all that work required by FDA. And me I didn't get into this to kind of put a label on a can. We wanted to really create a product that represented 21st century breast milk science, everything we've learned about breast milk, and really bring that to babies. And the only way to do that was first.

build an entire kind of manufacturing supply chain on every step of that process, then run major clinical trials on, you know, brand new kind of patented innovation and really took kind of latest latest lens to the to the the science here and bring that to market. So it was really wasn't actually a choice. It's what needs to be done actually to bring new innovation.

Ramon Vela (18:21.507)
Mm-hmm.

Mia And Ron (18:23.254)
Yeah, that moment was really one of those founder moments where you look at each other and you say, what are we really in it for? And what truly is our mission? And our mission was to create the best formula in the world. so owning manufacturing, building manufacturing wasn't a nice to have, it was a must have because it was the only way to completely reinvent the formula recipe and make it closer to breast milk than ever before and with the highest quality ingredients. so, you know, we

We looked at each other and we said, right, let's embark on this. We traveled all over the world looking for manufacturing plants only to realize that we'd have to build the manufacturing plant that we would need to create the product that we'd need. We, in fact, like we had this recipe, we had brought ingredients from around the world that weren't even in US formula yet.

we had gotten them approved for formula. We had a recipe. We sat with that one contract manufacturer and say, look at all the ways we're getting closer to breast milk and we're elevating and really like reinventing baby's first food. And it was like, no, no, can't do it, can't do it. And so it became clear in that moment that this was something they had to do.

Ramon Vela (19:30.371)
Hmm.

Ramon Vela (19:34.903)
Well, and I think from a story standpoint, it also becomes part of the story because now that you have this manufacturing, there is a trust that can be built because you control the quality. You can also innovate faster, I would imagine. You can try new things because you are the one in the driver's seat when it comes to creating the product.

I would also imagine that the clinical trials were also just as important to do because this is not only of course, this is about building trust, but it's about showing a third party view that the benefits of this formula, correct? Can you walk us through a little bit of that?

Mia And Ron (20:28.246)
Yeah, well, we're not a company about marketing. We're a company about evidence. And the reason for that is that we want parents to really understand what's in their formula, how is it impacting your baby's health. We don't just want to put out claims. We want to really empower parents with the information so that they can make the best decisions for them and their babies, because we really believe that parents know best. And so with

our clinical trial, was highly scientific and the results were really breakthrough results with true evidence of how this formula is supporting your baby's health and the different outcomes. And that's really, we believe how you build trust by giving parents the information about the clinical benefits, what's in the formula and how is it doing better for their baby's health. And then to your point, also transparency about

every element of the formula over every step in the process of making it. And that's how we built, we believe we build trust through information and transparency. And we can do that uniquely because we own our end to end kind of farm to formula supply chain.

Ramon Vela (21:40.771)
Mm-hmm. You know, it's really interesting in that when my kids, they're more or less in their 20s. I have one who's still a teenager, but back then we weren't really concerned with the ingredients component of it. Like we just felt like, you know, this is what other people use.

my wife's mother used, you know, like, you know, it was just kind of like, we just decided to, I don't, I don't even remember thinking about it at the time. Now, of course, like we're label readers all the time, right? Like we're always reading the labels where like how much sodium does it have in it? How much protein, how much fiber, you know, which vitamins, all that kind of stuff. And I think this has just become so much more, important, for a lot of.

especially parents, right? Like we want to make sure that all these things are the right things, right? Because what we hear on the news or in different studies and so forth that these products, we may not know what these things are, but we hear these things where, hey, there's stuff in there that shouldn't be in there, right? Or there's ingredients in there that really aren't necessary and they're

there for no good reason. I mean, we hear these things from other parents and we don't know exactly what there is, but we know that we want the best for our children. And so we're much more hyper aware about these ingredients. And I would imagine that this whole trend, not necessarily just in the baby food market, but just in food in general, has really benefited you guys, especially with these clinical trials. And by the way, I meant to ask,

Is this clinical trial ongoing?

Mia And Ron (23:39.566)
It's completed. it was, you know, we conducted one of the largest clinical trials in over 25 years, really in a major studies in babies, which went well above and beyond even the regulations of what's required for a new infant formula really to study the formula, its benefits and how it gets close to breast milk. So for example,

we elected to add a whole set of over 100 babies that were actually breastfed reference arm, and there was 100 babies on who was an existing formula and ours. So we could really make comparisons. Our study was longer than it had to be, bigger than it had to be, and really with some of the best experts in the country around the study to really prove benefits. think, you and now actually that study is the first in a very long time that I could publish in a very reputable medical journal. And,

Ramon Vela (24:26.509)
Mm-hmm.

Mia And Ron (24:28.492)
demonstrating things like easier digestion, less spit up, softer stool, better tolerability for babies, one of the biggest kind of parent problems because 50 % of babies usually switch formulas because they don't tolerate it well. We saw more efficient growth, better nutrient absorption, longer stretches between nighttime feeds, know, the whole host of a very kind of full scientific study around this food because...

You spoke to the trend of really being label readers. And imagine,

We think that way around the candy bar we eat once in a while. This is the most important functional food in the world. This is the only thing a baby is eating in that first year of life. 80 % of parents in the country rely on this product at some point in that first year of life, and it's supporting all of their baby systems developing. So not only does it need to be clean nutrition and stripped of those things you don't want in your own diets, but it also needs to get much closer to breast milk

to drive those really important functional benefits that breast milk drives. And that, to us, was the key in what we tried to create in one product, certified clean and driving those most important benefits for your baby. And to us, that was the next frontier of infant formula. Because the last 10, 15 years of newcomers have all been around creating a cleaner version of what already exists. And we wanted to say the next generation is, of course,

Ramon Vela (25:36.045)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (25:57.249)
Mm-hmm.

Mia And Ron (26:01.006)
It's the only food your baby eats. should be certified clean. And it needs to drive these really important benefits by addressing some of the largest gaps between breast milk and formula. I think what you guys are talking about is exactly right. This is the era of the confident parent and they want to be armed with the deep information. So we don't just, you know, go out there and say, oh, closest to breast milk. We actually go deep on educating. You know, we spent

Ramon Vela (26:10.039)
Wow.

Mia And Ron (26:26.892)
years developing this patented protein blend that comes closest to breast milk, that has two proteins that are the most abundant in breast milk that were virtually missing in other formulas. And so we really want to educate parents to know that we created this blend. It includes those proteins, how they're supporting all of baby systems, immune, gut, digestive, because we think that when you really understand the power of these ingredients,

In your formula, you can really start to feel proud of how you're nourishing your baby and setting their foundation for health. So yeah, this kind of empowerment, I think, around ingredients and deep product transparency is so critical. And we see parents really pulling for it and wanting it and leaning in.

Ramon Vela (27:02.947)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (27:18.017)
Yeah. I am based off of that, I am wondering, there's so much that you guys did in preparation to come to market, right? It's the clinical trials, the creating this, the basically the supply chain, the manufacturing and all of that. And then of course the science behind it. So there's so much that went, so much that went.

to building everything until you, before you even had a chance to like bring a product to a consumer, how did you guys start building that awareness? How did you guys start building that community and bringing this to market?

Mia And Ron (28:03.586)
Yeah, it all started with parents speaking with, you know, thousands of parents understanding their needs, building this product alongside them. And then with time starting to speak to parent communities and then to parent publishers and kind of building that community of parents, because parents were at the heart of the innovation. They were along with us on that journey. And then they became our biggest champions and our

You know, they were the ones that helped us bring this finally to market, you know, and we brought them along on that journey. What was also really special is that we were able, as we were launching, to create really meaningful relationships with retailers. So half of our business is direct to consumer, where we can directly service our customers and create the best possible feeding experience for them.

You know, we're all about giving parents peace of mind. And for many parents, that's, just want a subscription. You know, help me get the formula I need when I need it to my doorstep. And that's great. But for other parents, it's about peace of mind is about being able to find by heart wherever they are. And so we went out and we started talking to retailers and we created incredibly meaningful retailers with Target and Walmart and Whole Foods and Wegmans and all these amazing retailers.

that have been an important part of our journey. And now they continue to lean in with us and become really important drivers of that awareness and that credibility. And we're kind of really working to reinvent the formula experience and the formula aisle together with those retailers. And the other really important component of the community, I'd say, was the medical community and the culture of innovation that it

Ramon Vela (29:52.493)
Mm-hmm.

Mia And Ron (29:57.358)
It was an opportunity to sit with experts who have literally been characterizing breast milk for 20 years. People who have dedicated their whole life to the proteins in breast milk, somebody else who sits on our scientific advisory board, to the fats in breast milk, to the gut microbiome of babies and what are the ingredients that drive that literally expertise across all of those and sit with them and say, we are going to build from scratch.

product on 21st Century Science and run a major clinical trial. We want you to be involved with it. We want you to help design it. We want you to help build this formula. And we were able to develop an amazing community of experts and then attract incredible talent to come into Buy Heart and feel that this was a place where we have in-house our own ingredient procurement. We have full R &D, we clinical operations, we have regulatory, we have every step of the process.

wanted people to come here and ask really hard questions of this industry and take fresh eyes with no strings attached. No, hey, this is how we've been doing it for a hundred years. No, my last 20 skews had, you know, skimmed milk. Like how am going to put out a whole milk formula, even though we know that the fats and breast milk are critically important. No, we wanted people to come here and follow the latest science and take chances and build something amazing.

I think that's driven a really inspiring, exciting culture. And one of the things that we and I are most proud of is every time we think we've kind of gained new heights of discovery, we have someone on our team saying, like, we could do better. I think that we're even getting closer. There's ways to do more. that's what I think energizes us every day.

Ramon Vela (31:36.739)
Thank

Ramon Vela (31:44.513)
Well, yeah. you know, the, the, that's the word I'm looking for the personal side or the emotional or emotive side of this is now that people are more aware of like the ingredients and care more about what, what, what's going into their bodies, but also their children's bodies. now that they, there's that trend, it really puts a huge,

responsibility into companies like yours, right? Like they really want to make sure that, I mean, even like stepping back a little bit, choosing to use formulas is a hard decision still in our society because people are told, you got to breastfeed. Well, my wife tried all she could to breastfeed and she couldn't. And you know,

And there would be people on the way like, oh, you really should. this is that. And of course we know like what the benefits are of breastfeeding, but the reality is it's just not, you know, not, not, not able for everyone to do this. And so if you're a woman and you're feeling already a little bit pressured, like, oh, you know, I really, you know, like I'm not breastfeeding. You really want a formula that is, um, that they feel confident is like the best next thing to breath, to.

breast milk, right? And so I think there's an emotional side of it as well. And I love what you just said about, know, people on your team having, you know, constantly trying to figure out like how, like how can we continue this? How can we go up now? Because I think that's how you build trust too. Constantly trying to improve the product, like it's a great product, but let's, what can we do to improve it? What can we do to, you know,

add to it and what can we do to continually build that trust with the parents and the mothers out there, right? It's more of an observation than a question, I guess.

Mia And Ron (33:42.69)
you

No, well, we're listening to parents and their needs and it drives our innovation. It drives our education, our community, our conversations. We're so excited because we actually just launched a second product called the Anywhere Pack, which again came from listening to parents' needs. It's this game changer formula for on the go parents. And it's kind of this modern solution to feeding on the go. And so it's a single serve.

skew. And so now you have this game changing formula, but in this really empowering on the go format. And what we love about that is that it came out of a need that we heard from parents, them saying, you know, it feels so hard to feed babies while you're on the go while you're going through your normal routines. You know, the truth of parenthood is that we're not just all sitting at home all day long. Well, we said let's

hear parents and let's innovate for them. And that took full innovation from manufacturing to packaging to, you know, quality to so many things. But we said we got to do this because there's a need in the market and it's a meaningful need and a meaningful innovation. So now parents have these on the go packets. It's the only one in the category. you know, parents are already telling us just a couple of weeks in that it's been really life changing for them.

whether it's handing it to grandma and saying, hey, thanks for babysitting. Just open this thing and like make a bottle, no need for mixing and you know, like a full science project, really easy. Or if it means going on an airplane or in a taxi or you finally feel comfortable taking your baby with you out to a restaurant. I remember when I had my baby, my pediatrician said, you know, something important for your own mental health is to get out every day.

Ramon Vela (35:14.147)
Thank

Mia And Ron (35:39.266)
Don't be locked in your house where everything feels really stressful. Get out there. Well, that was really hard to do when I was lugging around a huge can. And now you have this stick that you can just stick in your pocket or in your baby carrier or your stroller. And it's just another way that we're always looking to innovate meaningfully for parents, whether it's the ingredients and what's in the formula or the format.

Ramon Vela (36:04.353)
Yeah, I love that. and I do have you know, you guys have such a fascinating story. There's there's a lot of business wisdom that I want to pull from you guys. But I feel like I really want to make sure that we cover the product because I think it's really this is this is your this is your other baby, right? This is the thing that you guys have worked so hard for. And and it's fascinating. So I want to make sure that we cover all the product stuff. And if we have time, I'll ask you a couple of entrepreneurial things.

But if for everyone out there, if you wanna go to what we've been talking about, you can go to buyheart.com, buyheart.com, that's B-Y, second word heart.com is the website. walk us through just so we can put a little bit more emphasis on it for those parents who are listening or for those people who know a parent and really wanna make sure to tell them, what would be like the,

the big takeaways. So if someone's listening to this and they're either going to go and tell their spouse or their partner or their friend or their relative who's going to be having a baby or has a baby, what do you want them to like communicate to somebody about this formula?

Mia And Ron (37:21.262)
Look, this is the next generation of infant formula. This is the first patented formula that is driving the really critical benefits for your baby demonstrated in a major clinical trial and through certified clean ingredients. We wanted to address some of the largest gaps between breast milk and formula by really bringing 21st century breast milk science. We didn't want to create just a cleaner version of what exists. We wanted to change the entire

Change the game here because breast milk is both the most natural nutrition and the most functional nutrition. So what do I mean? Take protein. Protein is the super food of breast milk.

For hundreds of millions of years of evolution, breast milk has evolved to deliver very specific proteins that are the first steps in colostrum, the first steps of baby takes that drive the immune system, drive the development of the gut microbiome, are naturally easy to digest when baby's digestive system has even developed. These proteins have been virtually missing from infant formula, which has been skim milk and whey protein concentrate in the majority of formulas on the shelf for decades. That is very far from breast milk's design. So we created a...

Ramon Vela (38:21.955)
Mm-hmm.

Mia And Ron (38:31.768)
patented protein blend closer to breast milk than ever before. It brings the most abundant protein in breast milk to formula for the first time, combined with the most abundant protein in colostrum, and combined with broken down proteins that generate kind of this easy digest profile, and a really important key to driving the really important benefits that we demonstrate in our clinical trial.

We also, because we own this kind of end-to-end farm formula supply chain, could do it through certified clean ingredients. So we were the first formula to use organic grass-fed whole milk, not skim. We know the importance of fat in breast milk. It's loaded with fat. So why would this industry use skim milk? We brought for the first time organic grass-fed whole milk to this category. We did that as the first clean label certified formula.

that looks at over 700 contaminants. We drive these benefits without corn syrup and maltodextrin and soy. So really for the first time in one bottle, driving those really important benefits through breast milk.

through certified clean ingredients. And that's something as parents, like we couldn't find on the shelf and we wanted to therefore create it. Yeah, we feel that's kind of the no compromise formula. You can really feel proud to feed your baby when and if that becomes, know, formula becomes your choice.

Ramon Vela (39:55.511)
Yeah, and I'm on the website right now, byheart.com. And I'm looking at, think, at what you were describing right now, the alpha-lac, the lactoferrin, the partially hydrolyzed proteins. And so for everyone out there, they do have very, they have descriptions and sort of descriptions of what all of this means. The alpha-lac, which is the number one protein found in breast milk,

and you have it at the actual breast milk levels, is impressive. And then as you mentioned before, there is a series of things in here that says, you know, the closest to breast milk patented, protein bland, organic, fed, whole milk, clean label project, purity award, clinically proven benefits, and of course made in the United States with globally sourced ingredients.

There's a lot of really great stuff in here and I'm just mentioning just a few things that I just can view from the homepage. For someone starting off with this, with their journey with this brand, is there any place within the website that you want them to start in particular? Is there a video? Is there any learning information? Where would you like them to start in their journey?

Mia And Ron (41:13.25)
Yeah, I think we really built a site to be helpful in navigating the first decisions as you're preparing for feeding. know, parents are starting to think about feeding even while they're still pregnant or sometimes when they've just had their baby. It can feel really stressful and intimidating. So there are places on the site where it gives you five things to think about as you're making a formula choice.

what's important in that choice, what's important as you're making that decision. Again, it's not about trying to sell you our formula, it's about being a partner in feeding. We also educate on breastfeeding. We wanna be that partner to you when you first start to think about feeding, addressing breast milk and its magical benefits. We're obsessed with breast milk, we study it obsessively, we wanna be a resource to parents who are wanting to breastfeed.

and then also educate them on formula. To us, it's all about just being prepared for whatever comes. I remember going into feeding just so unprepared. I breastfed and I thought, this is natural. It's gonna be easy. Well, it wasn't easy for me. And so then I made my formula choice in a panic. And so we really wanted...

the website to be a place where you can go and educate yourself and get prepared and get comfortable. And then even, you know, buy a can just to have just in case so that you don't enter feeding in a total panic like so many parents do. Yeah, Mia said earlier, you know, we don't want to be a company about claims. We want to be a company about evidence and showcase that evidence. And that's really also how the website is designed, right? Like our role is not to tell you what's best for you.

Ramon Vela (42:49.207)
Mm-hmm.

Mia And Ron (43:04.022)
Right? Like actually that's where the name by heart comes from. You know your baby by heart. You know it's best for you. What we wanted to do is when we say closest to breast milk, what do we mean? Here are the ways in which we got closer. And we talk about benefits to your baby. Here's the largest clinical trial in over 25 years where we have published results as to what this formula does. Like here's the information. And when we talk about

highest quality ingredients. This is our end-to-end supply chain. These are suppliers, your supplier programs and qualifications. hold them to hear all the external groups that self and independently validate our kind of standards. And so we just want to showcase that and provide availability of information and families make the right decisions for themselves and for their families.

Ramon Vela (43:51.715)
And by the way, so as I'm on your website and I kind of like scroll down a little further, I really like how you describe, there's a section there says our benefits aren't just claimed, they're clinically proven. And then it has like a list of things that like check marks. As someone who's raised three kids, like each one of these things is like.

You don't have to be a scientist to understand these things. It's like easier digestion, less spit up, softer poops, enhanced nutrition absorption, more efficient weight gain, longer stretches between nighttime feeds. Those types of things. And then of course your formula also supports brain and eye development, immune health and gut health. But those other ones, like they speak to the parents experience very clearly, right?

I remember waking up in the middle of the night and my wife and I like playing rock paper scissors like, okay, you go this time or I go this time. And, you know, I just, I remember those nights, those days, but I remember like, yeah, I mean, having softer poops is really important, especially for the baby. Like that might sound funny for those who don't have, have never had kids before, but that's a thing. that's a, that's, that's really important.

Mia And Ron (45:16.366)
We talk about poop all day long with our customers. Yeah, there's some things about this category that as parents we thought was so strange. We hear 50 % of babies switch formulas because they don't digest or tolerate it well. A third of pediatrician visits are because parents have a formula that they don't digest or tolerate well. And then you go to the retail aisle and there's an easy digest category. Breast milk doesn't come in easy digest and standard, but you have this strange treatment paradigm.

Ramon Vela (45:17.953)
Yeah.

Mia And Ron (45:45.902)
It's like start with a standard formula. And if you have a problem in which one out of two parents does, then go to an easy digest. And we said, we know the components of breast milk that make it well tolerated. Like it's a really unique and evolutionary protein blend that like drives this, these benefits. And it works together with the whole fats and the prebiotics. And that there's a very amazing reason why breast milk is so well tolerated. So why is it?

all formula just well tolerated. We're not going to print an easy digest one over here and a standard one over here. Like as a parent, you want easy digest driving important benefits for my baby and through clean ingredients. And that's what we tried to drive. Yeah. Because no matter how good you feel about the nutrition, if your baby is constipated or your baby is spinning up or they're uncomfortable, then baby's unhappy and you're unhappy. It's just

That's table stakes. And so we spent so long really working on this blend to be the easiest thing to digest with real evidence of how it's supporting your baby's digestion in all these ways, from softer poops to less spit up. Just so important and the starting point for sure for us.

Ramon Vela (47:04.215)
Yeah, well, like I said, it really speaks to the parent experience, you know, of having a baby. And in all these things, like I said, are just so important because obviously when a baby can't speak and its form of communication is crying. And so I remember those nights where they're just crying and you're trying to figure out what's wrong and why, you why are they crying so much? definitely speaks, like I said, to the parent.

yeah.

Mia And Ron (47:34.286)
Parents know what they need, you know? And that's the importance of listening to them. And while we're so excited to be in retail, that's why our direct connection to customers and that direct to consumer part of the business is so critical. We're constantly studying the comments, the feedback, the conversations with our parent experience team.

This is gold. Like we're listening directly to parents about what they need and how formulas need to do better. And that's what drove our innovation and what continues to drive our innovation. Parents know what they need. And so it's a it's about listening to that and then working with the experts to deliver the best possible solutions. And the most inspiring thing is they are tough critics. This is a group that is just incredibly discerning. The questions that we get from parents are just

Ramon Vela (48:15.021)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (48:19.042)
you

Mia And Ron (48:26.592)
unbelievable, you the amount of research that is being done. They want to make the best decision for their babies. We love it. We welcome those questions. The conversations we have in that regard are just inspiring. They keep us sharp. They keep us innovating. They keep us pushing, you know, and that's what's really amazing here. And that's what's been a lot of the philosophy of the company. There are companies that are amazing marketing companies and there are companies that are amazing at making great products. And we always thought if we make great products and we focus on

creating the best experience for our customers and then really listening to them and continuously improving that experience and kind of the rest would follow. And that's kind of been the way that we've tried to build the company and create that dialogue with our customers.

Ramon Vela (49:03.011)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (49:11.267)
Yeah. Well, you know, to me, it's like, this is a very emotional sort of, um, topic, a product category, you know, experience for people. And I would imagine that there's a community, uh, a literal community kind of starts to form around this. Have you guys, uh, are you guys creating something like that right now? Like, is there a Facebook group or.

know, Instagram or anything like that, it just feels like to me, like if, you know, as people find this product and enjoy it and love it, they probably want to congregate or meet with other people or talk about things, you know what I mean? Have you guys taken advantage of that? mean, have you guys are building that as well?

Mia And Ron (49:55.99)
Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, it's not just about bringing people into our world on all of our social channels and we're across social channels. It's also about tapping into existing parent communities, you know, whether it's Misha pods or mom walks or like we have partnerships across the country with organizations that are really supporting parents on the ground, you know, doing the grassroots.

supporting, bringing communities together. And those partnerships are everything because we can be there in the trenches with parents. Another thing that's really important to us is we talk about really showing up for parents is our impact work. We have something called Open Hearted, which is our feeding education and formula donation program.

So we partner with organizations across the country that are supporting parents living at or below the poverty line. And we understand how many babies they have, where they are in their journey, how much formula they need. We partner with them to donate formula and also support with the education that they need in order to help them nurture and nourish their babies. We have a commitment that every can that we sell.

You know, parents know that when they're feeding their own families, they're also helping to donate formula to families in need. And that's so critical because we want to feed the best possible formula to as many families as possible and make sure that that's accessible. And that doesn't just mean being in your local retailer. It also means making it accessible in terms of, you know, where it's available and pricing and partnership and donation through our

So that's like really a core part of our community partnerships and a core part of our company.

Ramon Vela (51:57.323)
Yeah, I love that. And I know there's a lot that goes into this from a business perspective and is costly and so forth. But I do appreciate the ability to try to make it accessible to people because just because you don't have as much money or whatever shouldn't mean that you couldn't gain access to some of these to this amazing formula. I think actually I think the

The pricing is pretty good on this as well, giving all the benefits and so forth. I'm looking at the shop page and so I guess now at this point I'm wondering, where do they start? Which product should they start with? After they've read up and they've understood a little bit about the science behind it the benefits, should they choose the Anywhere Pack or is this I guess more of a personal choice depending on their lives?

You also have the essential can as well in there. Is there one that's a better seller than the other or one that you guys recommend over the other?

Mia And Ron (53:05.902)
Well, I think as you're preparing for feeding, it's good to get your can of formula that will enable you to feed your baby for a week plus, you know, knowing that you have that there for whatever you need. The Anywhere Pack is then something great that can help you take it on the go. But some people might want to start with the Anywhere Pack because it's an opportunity to try. So you could go either way, but I would probably get a can and put it in your...

covered and know that you're covered for whatever comes and there's no stress. you know, either way, there are two kind of formats, but it's the same formula. And that's what's really important to us that you know that we believe this is the best possible formula we can make. This has been our kind of life journey to make what we believe is the absolute no compromise formula that supports your baby's health. And now it just comes in two formats, one kind of more for

home and one for on the go, whatever suits you best.

Ramon Vela (54:05.879)
Yeah, I love this. I just can't, I mean, I can't imagine this, I mean, it's just from a business standpoint, I just, I think about this and I really want the listener to kind of understand this is that you guys have gone through so much to make this happen. I mean, you know.

It just feels, you know, like, I don't think people realize how difficult it is in general, just to start a business, you know, product development, innovation, manufacturing, which is normally like you contract the manufacturer. know, you contract the, you know, distributors, whatever. I you have all this different stuff that you do and there's just a lot that goes into it. But for what you guys have created, you guys have just gone like, like you've put every.

possible thing in front of yours in front of yourselves and and Really went the extra mile to create not only you know put the formula together work with the ingredient suppliers Build your own manufacturing do the clinical study, you know take in all this community feedback You've really done a lot Like you would have to be very passionate about what you're doing in order just to have survived all these years

before even bringing something to market, right? It's just, that's, it's, don't know. I just want to make sure that people realize that this is, this is not an easy endeavor. Like this is hard. This is really, really hard. Most people would have called it quits or at, know, with every regulatory thing that you had to, you know, you know, dealing with the government, that's not easy too, right? So, you know, I'm just impressed by what you guys have done. And I just want to make sure that the audience realizes that too. This is not an easy endeavor. So.

Kudos to you for doing what you've done.

Mia And Ron (56:03.598)
Yeah, it is not a journey for the faint of heart. And there's a reason that, you know, there's just five companies in the country that are manufacturing for Formula and this is the first time in over 15 years for a new manufacturer. And actually we spend a lot of our time speaking about...

Ramon Vela (56:06.371)
You

Mia And Ron (56:18.382)
the path that we took, because there wasn't a playbook when we got into this. And actually the reason we talk about it and we explain our journey and we explain what were the challenges and how we overcame them is because our hope is it's not going to another 15 years before the next manufacturer, because we have a major food security problem in this country with infant formula. It's amazing to think that three years ago,

You know, I sat on a presidential round table on the infant formula shortage, time where one manufacturing facility in the country, one facility went down temporarily and half the country couldn't find sole source nutrition for their baby, driving state to state looking for formula. I mean, that should never happen. And now three years later, very little has happened to address the root cause actually that way too few facilities in this country make such an important food. In fact, the only

Ramon Vela (56:57.452)
Yeah.

Mia And Ron (57:10.636)
two new domestic manufacturing facilities to come online. Since then, are the two manufacturing facilities we brought online in the country. And so I think it's really, really important that not only are more companies getting into the category, hopefully, to build more manufacturing and try to shore up the supply chain, but availability of formula should be table stakes. Even more importantly is how we create

Ramon Vela (57:17.388)
Hmm.

Mia And Ron (57:36.384)
additional policy and additional drive for more entrepreneurs to get into the space and run new clinical trials and new clinical research and share information and do better for babies because this is the most important functional food. And so we've presented at many medical conferences, actually things that have nothing to do with our infant formula, things we learned about breast milk in our clinical trial to kind of make that more available broadly for other kind of entrepreneurs and other industry to make.

to use and kind of innovate, or we brought many ingredients for the first time to infant formula that had never been approved in the United States, that are now approved here. And so I think collectively as an industry, it's important that we continue to innovate, build more manufacturing, and there's still work to do. I'm encouraged because such a new administration is really focused on this area and is really focused on food as health and.

announced their operation stork speed, is kind of their infant formula to drive more local domestic manufacturing formula, more innovation in the space, things that we've been really championing for going on the last decade. And so I'm very optimistic that there's still a lot of work to do that will require lot of different stakeholders and policy makers and experts and so on to kind of continue to create.

Ramon Vela (58:31.543)
Mm-hmm.

Mia And Ron (58:53.26)
what needs to be, you know, one of the most, I think, important industries for the most important food for, you know, most important people, our little babies.

Ramon Vela (59:00.707)
Yeah, well, and it feels like this area, know, like I know that the most of the time the government focuses on technology, know, like AI and making sure that, you know, we

that's kind of like our, almost like a, what do they call it? Like a security, you know, it's a national security kind of area. But I think like you were saying, like based on the problems we had during the pandemic, like this is almost like a national security area. Like this, our interest is to maintain this food, which is so important for our children. We have children born every day. We've got what, 300 million people now in this country.

So there's a lot of babies being born every day. so I, I get it. this has been fascinating. I want to make sure I'm respectful of your time. There's like I said, there's so much I wanted to talk about, but I felt like, okay, I just want to focus on the, on the ingredients and, and how, and how you, how you brought this to market. but there's so many entrepreneurial things I would love, I'd love to ask you, but maybe we'll for next time. one last question though is this is fascinating and I'm excited by what you have done.

Is there any sneak peek into the vision of what's coming, anything new coming, anything, or vision wise, where do you guys see yourselves, you know, like in the future?

Mia And Ron (01:00:29.422)
Yeah, we've been working to kind of reinvent what parents can expect from infant formula, both in terms of its quality, but also its access. Over the last year, we've expanded our retail presence by over 200%, we're now in over 6,000 stores nationwide. will continue to invest in that access and that broad availability. Just last week, we launched the Anywhere Pack, as Nia mentioned, this kind of on-the-go format of our formula.

Ramon Vela (01:00:52.419)
Mm-hmm.

Mia And Ron (01:00:58.382)
We have three manufacturing facilities across the country. We will continue to invest in building and growing reliable supply, because that's where it all starts here domestically. And we ran this major clinical trial in part to demonstrate this major commitment to

you know, really a scientific and 21st century approach to this category.

which in turn has attracted amazing people to this company that are passionate about continuing to do better and continuing to innovate. And so we're very humble in the idea that if it took nature hundreds of millions of years to construct breast milk, there was always more work to do. And we continue to invest very heavily in that and new clinical trials and new innovations. And so stay tuned on that front. that's some of the things that we're actively thinking about every day.

Ramon Vela (01:01:45.933)
the

Mia And Ron (01:01:59.328)
and then drop it forward. Yeah, and our pipeline of innovation is always about meaningful innovation that supports babies' health, that meaningfully raises the game for babies and their parents. We're not a company that will just make a business decision to suddenly have 26 different skews each one, presenting a trade-off or a compromise. We continue to.

really focus on meaningful innovation and that you'll continue to see that as we innovate moving forward.

Ramon Vela (01:02:35.235)
That's fantastic. Let's make sure that the audience knows where to go to buy it. So if you want to shout out any partners, obviously the website, if there's any marketplaces like Walmart or Amazon or anything like that, social media.

Mia And Ron (01:02:49.314)
Yeah, you name it. Yeah, you name it. We're everywhere from Mass, like Target and Walmart to Amazon. Definitely go to buyheart.com. Publix, Meyer, really important kind of like regional partners, Sprouts, Whole Foods, the list goes on. But we're in local retail. We also offer subscription and ease through buyheart.com.

And yeah, we're here also to reach out to us directly anytime and love expanding that community of direct partnerships and conversations with our customers.

Ramon Vela (01:03:35.319)
Great, and social media?

Mia And Ron (01:03:37.836)
Yeah, all over. Check us out, Instagram, TikTok.

Ramon Vela (01:03:41.184)
And the handle is by heart. Great.

Mia And Ron (01:03:43.266)
Yep. You got it. And almost every major medical conference as well.

Mia And Ron (01:03:52.919)
community. We also love the community around.

practicing physicians, academicians, experts that are studying the space. So I think that's another way to engage. We also have a specific website for healthcare practitioners, which goes deeper on all of our science and all of our efforts in that regard too. Yeah, if have physicians listening, join our Better for Babies Network of thousands of physicians who are really partnering with us to continue to reinvent formulas. So that's a good call.

Ramon Vela (01:04:24.789)
that's fantastic. I'll make sure to have that link. Make sure to have that link on our podcast description. This has been fascinating. And I love that. I love this commitment that you've you've you've you have for this area and this passion that you have. And as I mentioned before, it's incredibly impressive that all the work that you did beforehand and.

For me, this just, again, this kind of just builds, continues to build trust in what you're doing. And it's really, like I said, it's just, I think the consumer really needs to know like all this, which is why I like to highlight this, because I am a big believer from just a human standpoint and a person's standpoint, that if you show me how much you care, you give me permission.

to care about what you're doing. so I really appreciate all the caring that you guys have put you, not only you, but obviously your team put in, in putting this product together and all the time. So thank you for that. And again, this has been amazing. We're going to have those links that they mentioned that I mentioned on our podcast description, which you could find at Apple and Spotify and pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts.

But this has been amazing. Thank you so much for joining us.

Mia And Ron (01:05:48.654)
Thank you for what you do. Thank you for the stories you tell. Thank you for inviting us. This is so great. We love digging in with you.

Ramon Vela (01:05:56.215)
Yeah, I had a great time. again, I wish I had from a business standpoint, I think there's like another layer there that we could have gone into because this is what you guys have created. Yeah, it's impressive. And I love that. And I think it's going to be actually be incredibly beneficial to you in the future, having your own manufacturing and stuff like that. But this has been great. Everyone out there, we have just had Mia Fund and Ron Baldegrun, who are both co-founders of Buy Heart.

Mia And Ron (01:06:05.678)
We continue.

Ramon Vela (01:06:26.051)
You can go to buyheart.com of course and then we're gonna have that link on our podcast description and all the other links including even the the link to the doctor group and medical group That you can join And we'll make sure to have all of that and I normally tell people to well Let me just say the best thing to do for you If you if you are interested in this is go to their website sign up for the newsletter That way you keep up to date on all the promotions all the products new products, etc

But if you have also a friend, a loved one that is going to be having a baby, this is a great product for them to take a look at. At the very least, have them visit the website, read some of the material there. Highly impressive. And then if you want to share, of course, interview, please do so. But by and large, that's what I would definitely do. So be safe, be sane, be healthy. And in this case, being healthy is...

checking out by heart, so go do that. And then beyond that, everyone, one last thing. We've all been going through a lot of stuff, know, pandemic and then, you know, geopolitical wars and politics and the economy and everything else. It stresses people out. Some people are going through things. Let's just do ourselves a favor. Let's just be kinder to each other, remembering that everyone is going through something. And if we can do that, we can make this human experience a better one. Beyond that.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to another episode of the story of a brand.