Have you ever tried baby food that you actually enjoyed yourself and maybe even used in a recipe for adults? No chuckles please, it exists. I recently discovered “Jack’s Harvest” – organic baby food that is infused with delicious herbs and spices. There are plenty of organics on the market but I think that the flavor combinations and the audacity to use interesting spices is what makes this brand unique. Heather Schoenrock and Connie Pope created this company looking for healthy and fun eating options for their own kids, so as with any good idea it came out of demand for a better product. These savvy moms have their hands full but they are consistent, true to their organic promise and creative. Read on for their answers on running a successful company.
How did you start your business and pick the name?
Heather: We started Jack’s Harvest based on the fact that we had demand for the organic baby food I was already making for my son, Jack. Connie’s son, Avery, was a huge fan and when her friends found out about the food he was eating they asked how they could get some. Connie approached me with the business idea and said she would do the Sales/PR/Marketing if I would make the baby food – and here we are 3 years later.
Connie: I knew the food Heather was making was special and I knew there would be other parents out there that wanted it. We often joke our company grew “organically”. Word of mouth and grassroots marketing (and an amazing product, of course!) has really been the key to our success.
Heather & Connie: We originally wanted to call it Heather’s Harvest, but the URL was unavailable so we then played around with trying to incorporate all of our kid’s names (we have 5 between us) into one word and it just didn’t work. Jack, the name of Heather’s son, sounded like a good farmer’s name and when we said “Jack’s Harvest” it stuck. (Plus the URL www.jacksharvest.com was available.)
How long did it take you to get it off the ground?
Heather: We incorporated in December of 2006 and I would say the first order from Whole Foods in August of 2008 was the real turning point for us. It let us know there was not just local demand for our product, but also regional demand. And with the addition of Amazon.com, in January 2009, we were able to meet national demand.
Connie: It took a year from the time we decided to “go for it” to find a kitchen, get our certifications and get our online shopping cart live. And as Heather said, getting into all the Whole Foods in Georgia was a big turning point and then going regional with them six months later showed customer demand and Whole Foods’ commitment to our product category.
Does your family get involved in the work you do?
Heather: Absolutely! My husband does all the books and finances for the company in addition to his day job at Equifax. My kids put labels on bags for me and my eldest daughter Lucy always gets her friends involved in voting for Jack’s Harvest in contests like the one KIWI is currently running for the best kid and baby products: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22A68MYLSZF/.
Connie: Heather is always coming up with new recipes that incorporate our purees and the whole family loves taste-testing those. Our favorite to date is her brownies with our Sweet on Broccoli puree (Recipe here). It’s also a lot of fun to walk through Whole Foods with the kids and see our local vendor profile on the freezer door, which includes a picture of Heather and me with all of them. My daughter, Kathryn – age 7, pulls shoppers over to the freezer to show them her picture and tell them they should buy Jack’s Harvest. And sometimes they do! It’s really funny – and very sweet.
Do you have a set schedule or a flexible one? How do you decide when to work?
Heather: Both, I am scheduled to work on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, but often times we have other things like interviews or tastings that come up on the other days so Connie’s nanny is always extremely gracious about watching Jack for me on those days. Also, there is a lot of social marketing going on in the wee hours after all the kiddos are in bed! We also are committed to making sure we don’t miss school plays, class parties and the like. We are moms first and businesswomen second.
Connie: We worked from home for the first few years and it’s really nice to have an office to go to now. I’m there on Mondays and Tuesdays with Heather and then usually have meetings on Wednesdays and Fridays. Thursdays are my “Avery Days” when I stay home with him and do something fun. I try to turn off my phone and computer after 4 p.m. so I can spend time with my daughter when she gets home from school and help with homework, dinner and bedtime. Then as soon as everyone is asleep, I’m back on line. I’m a night owl so it’s not unusual to get an email from me at 1 a.m.
What’s been the most gratifying moment of working on Jack’s Harvest to-date?
Heather: The most gratifying part of Jack’s Harvest for me is the notes of encouragement and praise from our parents. They keep me going and let me know that others share my passion for healthy, organic food for children.
Connie: I agree with Heather. We have the most amazing Jack’s Harvest community of parents. I love hearing how much their babies love our food – and how we are making their lives easier. Heather and I personally answer all the Jack’s Harvest emails, so please feel free to send us a note: info@jacksharvest.com
What are the challenges of working on a baby product?
Heather: The one thing that immediately comes to mind is the fact that the lifecycle of your average customer is much shorter than average. We are lucky that many of our customers are using the purees for sneaky chef recipes, weight loss, as a sugar free treat and as popsicles so we are not as limited.
Connie: We keep our certified organic kitchen pristine and have exceeded government regulations to receive our HACCP certification. We love all our Jack’s Harvest babies and take the responsibility of keeping them safe very seriously.
You use only organic ingredients in your product. How does it make your work different (logistics, etc.) from a baby food manufacturer who doesn’t?
Heather: I actually think in many cases it makes it easier for me. I know exactly where to source my goods, our organic certification is made much easier by the fact that we are 100% organic and I wouldn’t do it any other way!
Connie: I also think it shows our commitment to wellness by offering the purest possible baby food. And because organic farming is more environmentally friendly, we are promoting both a healthier lifestyle and a better world for the future.
Jack’s Harvest baby food has lots of interesting herbs and spices. How open are babies to new tastes?
Heather: We find that babies, just like adults, like food that tastes good, they have taste buds and if we like something, they do as well. Which doesn’t mean that they don’t like one flavor over another, but we do find that parent’s who have struggled to get their babies to eat don’t have that issue with Jack’s Harvest. We all eat it because it tastes great. We got a great compliment in a review that we make “adult grade baby food.”
Connie: Early introduction to herbs and spices appeals to baby’s appetite and builds future reliance on flavors other than salt and sugar. In many countries, herbs and spices are offered from the very beginning. And breastfed babies are introduced to a variety of flavors, before they even start eating solids. We were talking with a pediatrician the other day who complemented us on our creative flavor combinations and agreed you don’t have to “dumb down” your baby’s food.
How often do you come up with new flavor combinations? Which one is your most popular?
Heather: We are in the process right now of creating some new flavors of baby food. We are really excited that Top Chef alumnus and Flip Burger chef Richard Blais is creating a new flavor for Jack’s Harvest as well. Our most popular flavor is Sweet on Broccoli – a delicious combination of sweet potatoes, broccoli and cinnamon – it is amazing added to brownie mix.
Connie: 2010 is an exciting year for us as we respond to our customer’s requests for more Stage 2 flavors by launching at least 3 new flavors throughout the year. Sweet on Broccoli is definitely one of our most popular flavors. My personal favorites are What a Pear and Papplesauce. They both have such clean, fresh flavors.
What are your favorite business tools?
Heather: Quick Books has been a lifesaver. We invoice, pay bills, track P&L and other financials all in one place. We also do a lot of social marketing via Twitter and Facebook – free is always our favorite way to do things!
Connie: All of the social marketing tools like Facebook and Twitter allow us real-time interaction with our fans. I love when they post pictures of their babies enjoying our food! And I am hoping to take more advantage of YouTube this year. I’m not a big technology person and have found Constant Contact very easy to use for managing our mailing lists and distributing e-newsletters and announcements. And as a company that does it’s own PR, HARO (Help A Reporter Out) has been a great.
What one piece of advice would you give to moms wishing to start their own business?
Heather: Don’t just start a business to start a business, make sure you are passionate about what you are doing. Entrepreneurship is infinitely rewarding but really taxing at the same time. That we truly believe in what we are doing makes the tough times bearable.
How do you measure the success of your company?
Heather: I measure it by each and every time we hear about a satisfied customer.
Connie: When we have customers telling us how much they love our food and how they want to help us get into their local retail store, that shows the sense of community we have with our Jack’s Harvest parents. At the end of the day, we need sales to keep the blenders going and our customers, through buying our product, sharing their positive experiences with their friends and telling their retail stores to carry us, have joined our journey and that shows we are more then just a product to them.
If I asked your kids, what kind of Mom would they say you each are?
Heather: Laid back, relaxed, fun but mean sometimes (when I make them clean their rooms, or do homework, LOL)
Connie: They think I’m funny, even when I’m not trying to be, and we all laugh a lot in our house. I am a huge hugger and make sure to tell them both at least once a day how special they are and how much I love them.
Where can our visitors buy Jack’s Harvest baby food?
Heather: Most of the Whole Foods Markets in the southeast, Kroger in Atlanta, GA, GreenLife Grocery in Chattanooga, TN and Asheville, NC and of course, on Amazon.com.
Connie: We are constantly growing our retail list so be sure to visit our website at: www.jacksharvest.com. And if you don’t see your retailer listed, please make a request to customer service. It really makes a difference.
