Shauna set for baby food boom

“It’s so simple, I can’t believe noone else has done it; it’s mindboggling.” Referring to her new business venture, Heavenly Tasty Organics – a brand new range of fresh baby food set to take the parenting world by storm – Fintona lady, Shauna McCarney knows deep down, that she’s on the verge of completing stage one of her mission.

Granted, it may have felt like mountainous hard work over the past two and a half years as the local parent juggled two young children and this new idea which she also birthed into the world but (and this is where it gets interesting), Shauna also knows – or at the very least suspects – that she is on the cusp of making a huge impact on the national baby food market.

Until now, and parents all over the country will know this only too well, when the time comes for your child to be weaned, pureed carrots, pears, and apples are often the first tastes and textures a bambino will discover.

Until now, these purees have had to be made at home, freshly and from scratch, often as the mother burps the child, changes nappies and hums ‘Ba Ba Black Sheep’ – all at the same time. Until now, parents will also have realised that these purees cannot be bought fresh and frozen and that baby food only comes in jars or packets and is mainly for the older toddler. Are you beginning to see a gap in the market?

“The idea came to me first of all when I was weaning my child onto solids and I noticed I couldn’t buy anything of this nature,” Shauna explained.

“As first-time parents will appreciate, when your first child comes along it makes you think a lot more about food and the qualities of food. And when you look into things it sometimes makes you realise that what you’re eating yourself might not be too healthy either.

“I’m not sure when the light-bulb moment arrived for me but at the time, I was looking online for fresh products for weaning and there was just nothing there. I found out that Canada and New Zealand are into their fresh organic baby food and that mothers had started these companies. But there was nothing in the UK or Ireland.

“I thought this was something that I could do, start a business, but I had two small children and so it just remained an idea.

“To be honest, I always thought someone else would start producing fresh food for babies but thank goodness, this didn’t happen.”

As time turned the page, Shauna’s children Joe and Cara got older and as she returned to gainful employment
after four and a half years as a fulltime mum, Shauna’s idea for fresh baby food lingered on in her mind.

One day however, she decided that enough was enough and she would have to “take the bull by the horns” and develop this niggling idea.

“I had nothing to lose by giving it a try and I had been working for my father at the time,” Shauna continued. “I thought: If I don’t at least try something, I will always regret it and so with the amazing support and encouragement from my family, I took that huge step towards creating something fantastic.”

Two and a half years later, Shauna’s first range of Heavenly Tasty Organics are about to go on sale. Having negotiated a deal with Musgrave (SuperValu suppliers), her new pouches of frozen weaning purees for young babies will be stocked across the country within the next few months.

“We’re starting off with the purees… carrot, pear, apple, butternut squash and broccoli but more will come on board later on in the year,” Shauna continued.

“Heavenly Tasty Organics products are 100 per-cent pure and contain no nasties.

“As a mum of two children, I know how important it is for parents to be able to give the best to their child, and not feel guilty for using a convenience product.

“Everything is going well so far, we’re very busy. It was manic for the past few months and for a long time it was just me working at it and as you can imagine, that made things really hectic.

“I’ve taken on another employee now and we have four students coming on board from Loughry College for
the next six months, so that will be a massive help.

“It’s been a really steep learning curve for me but I’ve enjoyed it too. I realise now there are so many things to starting a business that I’d never have dreamt of.”

Fresh from a successful PR outing at the Balmoral Show, where Shauna had a stall in the Good Food Pavilion, the local lady is now concentrating on developing the range of products with the help of the good people at Loughry College.

Envisaging the whole gamut of baby foods – right through from the baby puree to the more meal-like range for toddlers, Shauna also knows deep down that there’s a whole world of work to do before her business is complete – if it can ever be deemed complete.

“We had great feed back at the Balmoral Show and the reaction from some parents was just fantastic. This was a real boost for me and confirmed my thoughts and feelings that this is going to work.

“We are launching with Musgrave shortly and Loughry College are helping me with NPD (New Product Development), so maybe this time next year I’ll be back at the Balmoral Show ready to launch the next range of foods.”

For further information about Heavenly Tasty Organics or to hear more about this quality product, log onto
www.heavenlytastyorganics.com

Source: Ulster Herald on 19th May 2011.