Baby ingredients' source more important than organic, say firms
The latest data from the UK’s Soil Association indicated that sales of organic baby food in that market rose 11.7 per cent in 2008, to be worth £89 million – around €102m. Growth for non-organic products was much slower, at 7 per cent.
But despite these states, parents are not necessarily going out shopping for organic products, according to Little Dish founder and managing director Hillary Graves. She told the authors of New Nutrition’s Organic Kids Snacks and Baby Foods report that they are more focused on the provenance of ingredients – both where they come from and how many air miles they have notched up – than in organic status.
Sally Preston of baby food brand Babylicious concurred. She said research conducted by her company found a lack of understanding of what organic really means. Rather, those purchasing baby and toddler products tended to use it as a hook for ‘wholesome’, ‘natural’ and ‘minimally processed’.
When it comes to fair trade, however, some respondents noted real difficulties in gaining assurance for products aimed at the youngest consumers.
Susie Willis, creative director of Plum Baby said it is difficult to have a secure supply of fair trade ingredients, since it is already a mission to ensure all ingredients comply with the EU Weaning Directive. Her company has a whole team dedicated to ensuring ingredients are ‘baby grade’.
Competing with Mum
The landscape for baby foods is crowded with small companies, but as the report points out many of these were started by parents with their own children’s best dietary interests at heart.
That said, Preston does not see the other firms as presenting huge competition. Rather, her biggest competitor is mothers who are cooking, processing and freezing food for their little ones themselves – exactly what her company is doing on a commercial scale.
