Mom Made Foods

[monavano]

Heather Stouffer of Alexandria, Va., started a company called Mom Made Foods in May 2006.

After having her son, Emory, Stouffer set out to feed him homemade organic foods whenever possibe, but found that working at a full-time job often left her reaching to store shelves to feed him. Displeased with the quality of food, and paucity of organic baby food products in general, she saw an opportunity to fill a need for other moms, who like her, wanted to feed their children organic, minimally processed foods. She knew her recipes were popular with Emory, and his playmates at Day Care, whose moms were always asking for them.

Stouffer began selling her foods at the Del Ray farmers market in 2006, and was quickly picked up by area Whole Foods, Balducci's and Wegmens. She received a large boost to her business when Oprah featured her as a mom with a small start up business.

I'm writing a piece on Mom Made Foods and wonder if anyone has any experience with buying and using the products. Can any moms or dads share their experiences ?

Thanks!

[zoramargolis]

Wasn't there a movie starring Diane Keaton years ago, with this same plot? Only she moved to Vermont when she started her fabulously successful organic baby food company. And of course that was fiction, not a documentary. I knew some moms in West L.A. who tried to do this when Veggie-teen was a baby, and that was seventeen years ago. I'm sure a zillion other people have tried it, too. What would be an interesting story is how this woman managed to be successful when so many other would-be organic baby food enterpreneurs have tanked.

[hillvalley]

Yep. It came out 20 years ago and is called Baby Boom.

[Al Dente]

I think longer life expectancies are due in large part to feeding children plenty of preservatives. People of my generation can expect to live well past 150-- unless your parents were food co-op hippy-types, of course.

[bookluvingbabe]

I don't remember seeing Mom Made in stores. We did a little Earth's Best, a few Plum, a couple Happy Baby but mostly I just steamed and pureed organic produce. And then I stopped pureeing and let him use his hands.

(And I work full time doing 2+ jobs combined into 1...)

At 13 months BLBaby has tried and enjoyed (mostly) a wide range of foods. The only duds so far have been okra and peppers and I think both of those were about texture not flavor.

Currently his favorites involve anything "tangy"--oranges, pineapples, pickled carrots and mangos.

I was quite excited to realize I could easily take him to Colorado Kitchen and feed him right off the menu without needing to breakout the banana I keep in my bag when we go out to eat. Hoping to go soon.

[qwertyy]

I think longer life expectancies are due in large part to feeding children plenty of preservatives. People of my generation can expect to live well past 150-- unless your parents were food co-op hippy-types, of course.

My mom made all my food when I was a pup. I give myself until about 45.

[hillvalley]

Me too. You think we have until 45? I figured we were goners by 43 at the latest.

[goodeats]

I used to see them sold at WF in Clarendon and Tysons, but I don't anymore. I only see Plum and Happy Baby now. I know that she was featured on Oprah at one time.

Although Mom Made Foods, Plum Organics and Happy Baby were convenient, I found that 1) they were really pricey for the convenience (I think $3.65-$4 for 2 little containers); and 2) there wasn't a whole lot of variety offered that I couldn't already make myself or that my DS wasn't allowed/able to eat/allergic to (e.g. sweet potatoes, pears, apples). I would like for her to succeed since she's from this area, but I also know that there are more mail-order companies that do the same and are a bit less for a bit more product.

[Scott]

Frozen baby foods in general just don't sell well at MOM's. We've tried all kinds, including Mom Made- but no luck selling the product. We don't mind supporting local companies and stocking their products even if they don't sell so great, but not in the freezer. Freezer space is just too valuable for slow sellers. We're probably going to phase out frozen baby foods altogether. If we can't sell such a product, I can't imagine who could...

[monavano]

Thanks so much for your replies. I didn't realize that frozen products are not so.....great. Perhaps the Oprah endorsment brings a surcharge (sounds quite expensive).

[dcaCRL]

Frozen baby foods in general just don't sell well at MOM's. We've tried all kinds, including Mom Made- but no luck selling the product. We don't mind supporting local companies and stocking their products even if they don't sell so great, but not in the freezer. Freezer space is just too valuable for slow sellers. We're probably going to phase out frozen baby foods altogether. If we can't sell such a product, I can't imagine who could...

That's interesting to hear. I've sampled Mom Made's products at the market and when she started selling at Whole Foods, but never bought them because I made my own baby food. I think the people who are willing/committed to pay more for organic foods are probably doing the same and making it themselves. Too bad, it seemed like a great idea. I have friends in CA who used a frozen baby food delivery service - with much more variety in flavors and I presume a little more cost effective since you buy in bulk.