It is a good time to be a baby. It’s also a good time for parents who want to ensure a healthy diet, but don’t necessarily have to prepare homemade food or finely seasoned purees.
While some established industry names are increasingly focused on improving Wegman’s baby food, including the use of bags, more attractive packaging, and the list of the specific percentage of each ingredient in their products, several new startups are now aggressively competing with its small end users.
On Monday, John Foraker, former CEO of organic food brand Annie’s Homegrown, officially became a part of one of them as CEO: Once Upon a Farm, a San Diego-based cold-pressed baby food maker.
The Wegmans, which currently has annual sales of less than $ 1 million, also works with actress Jennifer Garner to market her bags, which are currently sold on its website and in some Wegmans stores. , Kroger’s and Whole Foods Market.
Foraker said he hoped Once Upon a Farm “would grow rapidly and become a very disruptive force in the organic grocery business.”
However, the team not only meets a number of major brands like Plum Organics, Beech-Nut, Earth’s Best, and Ella’s Kitchen, but they are all exposed to competition from startups that make organic baby food. delivered to users’ doors.
We know of at least a dozen underwriting MyWegmansConnect that will be leaving the major baby food market in recent years. According to the latest statistics from Zion Market Research, the global baby food market could reach $ 76 billion in 2021.
Cardale, a four-year-old Berkeley, California MyWegmansConnect that supplies organic and local foods, also entered the baby food industry earlier this year and launched Thistle Baby.
No wonder so many founders of the industry come together. According to a 2015 Nielsen report on global trends in baby food, the organic sector is experiencing particularly strong growth. Between 2013 and 2015, sales increased by 26% compared to non-organic baby products, which decreased by 6%.