Ledger-Enquirer.com:
Heather Schoenrock, a Duluth mother of three, had been making organic baby food for her children for years – steaming, pureeing and freezing fresh fruit and vegetable recipes at home.
The personal endeavor took an unexpected turn when Schoenrock brought some food for her third child, Jack, to a play date with friend Connie Pope and her son, Avery.“For me, the light bulb was the peas,” said Pope, a Norcross mother of two. “When she pulled out the peas she had made for Jack, they were green. They smelled like peas. They tasted good.”
Two years later, Pope and Schoenrock have turned Schoenrock’s frozen organic baby food into a business called Jack’s Harvest. After building a customer base through home delivery and Internet sales, the company recently crossed a major threshold, gaining shelf space at metro Atlanta Whole Foods Market grocery stores.
Jack’s Harvest faces competition as distribution broadens. It will be going up against major brands, such as Gerber Organic and Earth’s Best, which sell organic baby food in jars or plastic packages at room temperatures.
A host of smaller companies also are popping up that make frozen organic baby food. Like Jack’s Harvest, these companies tout freezing as a way to retain vitamins, flavor and color.
Jack’s Harvest sells its food in 12-ounce bags of frozen heart-shaped servings at $7.49 a bag. They come in 10 flavors, including Yummy Bunny Carrots, Tango with Mango and Lip-smacking Sweet Potatoes.
Image from Jack’s Harvest.