A first for baby-led weaning: Tiny Organics rolls out range targeting taste acceptance and motor skills

15 Feb 2022 --- Tiny Organics is targeting the rising baby-led weaning (BLW) trend for the first time with the launch of a non-puree range called Tiny Beginnings. The six meal offerings incorporate different textures and easy-to-grasp cut sizes to encourage US babies to accept a wider range of flavors and mouthfeels, all while honing their motor skills.

“The concept of BLW – essentially skipping spoon-feeding purees and letting babies feed themselves finger foods – really only started catching on with parents fairly recently,” Betsy Fore, co-founder and co-CEO of Tiny Organics, tells NutritionInsight.

She notes that there have previously been misconceptions about choking hazards, but BLW does not cause more choking than traditional spoon-feeding.

“Many parents also don’t realize that purees are not always the best option for babies, as it can delay the development of chewing and motor skills.”Tiny Organics launched in 2020 and has since fed tens of thousands of US families.

Taste and texture enhancement
The new line has a combination of 50 different ingredients to enhance the taste and feel of vegetables. 

Each of the Tiny Beginnings meals has a selection of solid foods for babies to grab and eat. For example, the “More Broccoli Please” meal contains all organic, solid pieces of broccoli, sweet potato, chickpeas and red pepper, seasoned with olive oil, cardamom and garlic powder. 

The “A-Peeling Oats” meal has chunks of butternut squash, sweet potato, banana, rolled oats, sunflower seed oil and cinnamon.

Different cuts for different skills
Maria Lemmo, director of food innovation at Tiny Organics, notes that one R&D challenge was ensuring that the vegetables were cut into the right sizes to offer a variety of baby-led weaning phases in each cup.

“We wanted to provide a product that offered different development stages within one cup as well as a comprehensive balance of carbohydrates, fats and protein,” she explains. 

The larger cut sizes of vegetables represent the palmar grasp stage of development, and the smaller ingredients represent the pincer grasp stage of development. The palmar grasp reflex is prompted by placing an object in the palm of the infant’s hand; this leads to an involuntary flexion response. 

This reflex appears around 16 weeks and begins to subside by three to six months of age. The pincer grasp is the ability to hold something between the thumb and first finger. This skill usually develops in babies around nine to ten months old.Tiny Beginnings is a “direct response” to feedback from the company’s consumer base. 

Expanding palates
According to Tiny Organics, there is a narrow window from four to seven months when babies are open to tasting more flavors and textures than they will be throughout all of childhood. 

This means parents have an opportunity to expand their baby’s palate and encourage preferences for healthy ingredients and bold flavors during this time.

“Unlike purees, Tiny Beginnings uses textured finger foods that are still extra soft and chewable, so no teeth are needed,” Fore explains.

When babies are allowed to grab a piece of food with their own hands and eat it, they’re more open to trying new foods and flavors.

Attracting investments
According to Fore, BLW has grown in popularity over the past decade. “Although the term originated in the UK, families all around the globe are investing in the trend.”

Notably, actress and mother Brooklyn Decker has invested an undisclosed sum in the business. 

“We chose to invest in Tiny Organics because it provides a huge solution to the often time-consuming and expensive task that is feeding our children quality meals,” Decker details. 

She adds that when developing the company and the recipes, the Tiny team was already considering the levels of metals and how its ingredients would be farmed and produced. 

Heavy metals in baby foods have been a hot topic in recent years, with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) creating an action plan for reducing exposure to toxic elements, including lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury, from foods for babies and young children.

Avoiding pesticides and other contaminants is also a key concern for the sector, which places an especially high emphasis on safety. 

By Katherine Durrell