According to Pew Research, seven-in-ten moms with children younger than 18 years of age are in the labor force now – up from 47 percent in 1975. Also, today’s moms are more educated than ever before, with 80 percent of women ages 40-44 holding a Ph.D. or professional degree having given birth, compared to 65 percent in 1994. The growth of working, educated moms, coupled with the global baby food market projected to hit the $82 billion mark by 2022, has set the stage for the success and fast growth of High Pressure Processed (HPP) baby food.
This food category has taken off with both major players and fast growth start-ups. Major players include Once Upon a Farm and Pure Spoon. Once Upon a Farm received $20 million in VC funding in late 2018 and hired natural food veteran CEO John Forraker and actress Jennifer Garner to work with the brand. Pure Spoon pioneered the category and hit the shelves of major retailers such as Target, Whole Foods and Wal-Mart in 2017. New start-ups include Little Spoons and Latin Baby. Little Spoons offers HPP’d baby food delivery service. Latin Baby targets millennial moms and the Latin market. The newest player is Good Brands’ baby foods whose ingredients are organic, non-GMO, and rigorously third-party tested against their own quality standards.
The benefits of HPP for baby food are that HPP delivers better taste, texture and nutrition. Most shelf-stable baby food is made from pre-made, processed bases and cooked in individual ready-to-eat containers, including plastic bags and pouches. Shelf-stable brands use high heat pasteurization, which keeps food safe from pathogens but deteriorates taste, texture and nutrition levels. HPP’s benefits of better taste and nutrition are even more significant for babies than adults because babies’ nutrition is a critical factor in their healthy development.
“HPP provides working moms a long overdue, new, healthy option in the baby food category. It’s one that tastes delicious and is good for them,” says Lisa Wessels, CMO at JBT/Avure. “Consumers have become more educated about healthy food options and now they demand better food for their babies and children too. New moms shopping the traditional shelf-stable baby food aisle are often shocked to find baby food with shelf life older than their babies.”
Baby food makes the intersection of HPP’s powerful benefits –– convenience and better taste, texture and nutrition ––even more impactful because babies have more critical nutritional needs and more sensitive palates than adults.
“Moms want the nutrition that is best for their children. Since most moms are working moms now, we are proud that HPP’s better taste, texture and nutrition ensures babies get superior nutrition and helps time-strapped working moms,” concluded Wessels.