Happy Family introduces new baby food options to meet US nutrition program guidelines
02 Aug 2018 --- Happy Family Organics, the US’ largest organic baby food brand, is furthering its mission to change the trajectory of children’s health through nutrition by expanding its Happy Baby Clearly Crafted line with the addition of a jars offering. The line extension means the company can offer products that adhere to the guidelines of The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
WIC provides grants to individual states to support low-income households (under US$46k in annual income for a family of 4) who are nutritionally at-risk. These families receive funds for a defined set of foods to help subsidize the cost of feeding their children. Currently very few organic options are authorized for purchase with WIC funds. In fact, only 12 of the 50 states approve organic products for infants at all.
Jars are one of the few organic baby food formats authorized for purchase through WIC, but only under strict retail price and sizing requirements.
“Our mission at Happy Family has always been to change the trajectory of children’s health through nutrition,” Anne Laraway, CEO of Happy Family Organics, tells NutritionInsight.
“In the US, 2 million of the 4 million babies are born every year directly into the WIC program. We realized we have to find a way to reach this population,” Laraway explains. “A few years ago we had an innovation brainstorm where we discussed where new launches should go and one of the topics we discussed is how we can truly accomplish our mission when we are not reaching half of the population in the US.”
“We have had some massive success with our Clearly Crafted pouch line, launched in 2016, which is a line that focuses on transparency. It was not only the first transparent infant food pouch to be launched, but the line also includes recipe stories on the pack, telling consumers where we source our ingredients,” Laraway says.
Although this pouch-based line saw huge success, 45 percent of US parents use glass jars to introduce their baby to solid foods. By extending the Clearly Crafted line into glass jars, the company is aiming to provide a premium solution to this more intimate spoon-feeding occasion.
“With the introduction of the jars, we came up with a product line that uses the same transparent messaging, sharing our sourcing stories, but in a format that is approved under the WIC classification. All millennial mothers want the same thing: no matter how much money you make,” she says.
To further its mission of supporting parents in providing their children with the right nutrition, the company also launched a website where parents can learn more about the exact farms from which ingredients are sourced.
The jars are already WIC-authorized in Florida, Minnesota, Texas, West Virginia and Vermont (approximately 20 percent of the organic WIC market) and are in the process of receiving certification in additional states. Happy Baby Clearly Crafted Jars are available nationwide in mass retailers and grocery stores.
The company's further goal is to support the growth of total organic foods in the WIC program by navigating the state-by-state acceptance process.
“[In an ideal world] organic baby food would be accepted in all states,” Laraway tells NutritionInsight. “Currently, it is only accepted in 12 states. We are having multi-faceted conversations with states, focusing on why organic is beneficial,” she says, adding that in some cases, these conversations have led to a state's first-ever acceptance of organic infant fruits and vegetable purees.
By Lucy Gunn
