Abbott Formula Factory Goes to Bowling Green, Ohio

Dec. 21, 2022

The company plans to build a $536 million plant to supplement the problematic Sturgis, Mich., facility.

Abbott for months has said it plans to build a half-billion-dollar infant formula plant, it just hasn’t said where … until now. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced the facility is destined for Bowling Green, Ohio, thanks in part to economic incentives from several government units.

The $536 million formula production facility should create 450 jobs, according to JobsOhio, the state's economic development agency. Groundbreaking is slated for 2023 and it should come online in 2026.

Abbott Chairman and CEO Robert Ford said during an investors’ call in October that the company was in final negotiations for siting the plant but did not name the location. The Abbott facility will produce specialty and metabolic powder nutritional products.

This new plant will supplement the company’s Sturgis, Mich., plant, which was shut down in February after two infants died following consumption of formula produced there, and an FDA inspection revealed unsanitary conditions (although no definitive link with the deaths was ever established). The shutdown started a nationwide shortage of baby formula and exposed the concentration of baby formula production.

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.