WEBVTT - Shaping Young Palates to Love Vegetables

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and

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<v Speaker 1>Tim Stenebek on Bloomberg Radio. All right, Matt, it is

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<v Speaker 1>never too early to get the little ones to start

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<v Speaker 1>loving veggies big.

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<v Speaker 2>Time, right, Yeah.

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<v Speaker 3>Absolutely, It's a daunting task, right, I think, how long

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<v Speaker 3>has your daughter? I read a stat on the Tiny

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<v Speaker 3>Organics in a Tiny Organics Analyst report that said only

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<v Speaker 3>ten percent of kids eat the recommended amount of veggies,

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<v Speaker 3>and I definitely didn't.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I don't even know if I still do. No anyway,

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<v Speaker 1>So let's get to it. It's really really important. So

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<v Speaker 1>let's enter into a conversation with Tiny organ or Tiny Organics.

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<v Speaker 1>They are a partner by the way of Michelle Obama's

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<v Speaker 1>veggies early and often I love that, and a member

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<v Speaker 1>of the Food and Nutrition Innovation Council at the Freedman

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<v Speaker 1>School of Nutrition, Science and Policy at Tufts University. So

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<v Speaker 1>joining us on Zoom in New York City being of

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<v Speaker 1>Boston is the co founders of Tiny Organics, Sophia Laurel

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<v Speaker 1>and Carolyn Botitski. She is Carolyn, by the way, a CEO,

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<v Speaker 1>Sofia is CEO. I'm rushing, rushing because I want to

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<v Speaker 1>get to you. We see you. Welcome to Bloomberg. Tell

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<v Speaker 1>us about your company.

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<v Speaker 3>It's taken a long time to get them on this program.

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<v Speaker 2>We're thrilled to be here. Thanks so much for having us.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, well, tell us about it, tell us and

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<v Speaker 1>how it came to be.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 4>Absolutely, we'll keep it short because we know we only

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<v Speaker 4>have so much time.

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<v Speaker 2>But I'm originally from Finland.

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<v Speaker 4>There's an invention back home called the Finished Baby Box,

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<v Speaker 4>and I saw a first time the impact that it

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<v Speaker 4>had for families and families with children in particular, and

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<v Speaker 4>moved to New York about thirteen years ago. We started

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<v Speaker 4>the company with Carolyn. About five years ago. The idea

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<v Speaker 4>evolved into food. We realized we could have the biggest

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<v Speaker 4>impact in child.

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<v Speaker 2>Of development through food.

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<v Speaker 5>And I formerly am from Fiji Water and Beyond Meat

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<v Speaker 5>and some of those experiences really defined my ethos around

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<v Speaker 5>healthy food and making it accessible to people, which is

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<v Speaker 5>really important to us to get. Like you said, only

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<v Speaker 5>ten percent of children right now are getting enough vegetables,

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<v Speaker 5>and we really want.

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<v Speaker 2>That to be all children.

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<v Speaker 1>Matt, you've tried it.

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<v Speaker 5>I have.

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<v Speaker 4>So.

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<v Speaker 3>I met Sophia through my sister in law. A couple

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<v Speaker 3>of years ago, and at the time, I had a

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<v Speaker 3>one year old baby who was not a picky eater.

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<v Speaker 3>Like she definitely liked bread and meat, but she wasn't

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<v Speaker 3>really into veggies. And so we were also traveling around,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, moving from Berlin to New York, and it

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<v Speaker 3>was just a difficult time to prep meals and take

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<v Speaker 3>the time that you need for baby lead weaning and

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<v Speaker 3>all these other things. So I instantly spotted Sofia's product

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<v Speaker 3>as a solution to my issue, right because it comes

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<v Speaker 3>in these little boxes, it's easily portable, you know, you

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<v Speaker 3>just heat it up and give it to the kid.

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<v Speaker 3>And my daughter loved them straight away.

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<v Speaker 1>So tell us about I'm curious about how you guys

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<v Speaker 1>kind of come up with the recipes the nutrition that's

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<v Speaker 1>in there. Talk us a little bit about that process.

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<v Speaker 5>Definitely, all of the food is organic, it's plant based,

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<v Speaker 5>it's allergen friends, so no major allergens, and we really

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<v Speaker 5>lean into savory forward, specifically a ton of veggies, veggies, fruits,

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<v Speaker 5>grains and beans, all of the good stuff that's really nutrientents.

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<v Speaker 5>We have worked with a neonatal nutritionist from the very

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<v Speaker 5>beginning to help kind of guide these recipes and it's

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<v Speaker 5>really a wide variety of different products that we have available.

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<v Speaker 2>One of the best things that you can do for.

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<v Speaker 5>Your diet is have a wide variety of nutrients, specifically vegetables.

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<v Speaker 1>I want these in my fridge, Like it would be

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<v Speaker 1>a great little snacky your snack. How much do they

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<v Speaker 1>cost and how does it work? Like, how do people

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<v Speaker 1>get it?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah?

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<v Speaker 4>Absolutely so so far we've just been directed consumer. We're

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<v Speaker 4>just entering retail, which is really exciting. The price point

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<v Speaker 4>is between like three point thirty six and five ninety nine.

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<v Speaker 4>And like you said, we eat the food often as well,

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<v Speaker 4>in we won't have time for our rent.

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<v Speaker 2>But the rent is that baby food.

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<v Speaker 4>Actually, as you think about it today, you know perade

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<v Speaker 4>shelf stable of sometimes very sweet in the supermarket in particular.

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<v Speaker 4>It's invented in the nineteen twenties. And there's really no reason,

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<v Speaker 4>definitely no scientific reason that our children should be starting

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<v Speaker 4>their food journey this way. So trying to introduce, as

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<v Speaker 4>I Caroly mentioned, veggie's in a friendly and fun a way,

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<v Speaker 4>and they have funny and punny names so otmg and

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<v Speaker 4>apple pie oat meal and baby bereatable currier.

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<v Speaker 1>Some of our michell My broccoli bell.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I love the apple pie oat meal. That's like

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<v Speaker 3>the first one I had. So talk to us about

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<v Speaker 3>the business as it stands right now. You have some

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<v Speaker 3>kind of famous backers. Gary vaynercheck I know is one,

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<v Speaker 3>and you're starting to get into retail. What is the

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<v Speaker 3>what stage are you in terms of funding? And how

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<v Speaker 3>long until the IPO?

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<v Speaker 2>Great questions, Matt.

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<v Speaker 4>So, we're post Series A and I have been in

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<v Speaker 4>market about three and a half years. We've delivered over

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<v Speaker 4>three million meals so far. Really, as mentioned, the growth

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<v Speaker 4>unlocks for us, our sales channel expansions, so going into retail,

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<v Speaker 4>Callen I share a little bit more about those efforts,

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<v Speaker 4>but really almost ninety percent of our customers would like

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<v Speaker 4>to see us in retail, also etail, Amazon and others.

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<v Speaker 1>You know.

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<v Speaker 4>Again, so far we've only sold on Janieaganics dot com.

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<v Speaker 4>But this product is something that I think works well

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<v Speaker 4>both having a online option to buy online and option

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<v Speaker 4>to buy in store. And then the other growth unlocked

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<v Speaker 4>for us is really aging up, so growing alongside the child.

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<v Speaker 4>So some most requests that item is meals for later stage.

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<v Speaker 4>So we actually think there's a really big opportunity between

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<v Speaker 4>the three and seven rages and ultimately hopefully reinventing school

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<v Speaker 4>lunches as well.

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<v Speaker 1>I want the Wizard of Orzo right now, Zucchini pa

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<v Speaker 1>chickpe orzo pasta.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I mean the great opportunity to create like a

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<v Speaker 3>healthy alternative to lunchables, right, Carolyn, how is your experience

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<v Speaker 3>at Beyond Meat and other companies? These helped you informed

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<v Speaker 3>you in this business because some of them have had

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<v Speaker 3>a pretty tough time of getting off the ground, right

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<v Speaker 3>they have.

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<v Speaker 5>But as mentioning, I formerly ran ran operations in supply

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<v Speaker 5>chain app Beyond Meat. It was pre IPO, but very

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<v Speaker 5>much kind of defined my how I feel about especially

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<v Speaker 5>plant based but generally.

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<v Speaker 2>Healthy food, the you know messaging.

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<v Speaker 5>At the time, it was a new category and we're

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<v Speaker 5>inventing a new category as well.

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<v Speaker 2>Baby food traditionally isn't in the freezer. We're going to

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<v Speaker 2>be one of the first products there.

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<v Speaker 5>So showing people that you can find healthy food in

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<v Speaker 5>a different way and in a different part of the

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<v Speaker 5>grocery store. Like we were saying, you don't need to

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<v Speaker 5>give your baby shelf stable food generally higher in sugar.

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<v Speaker 5>They can have fresh and frozen and the next best

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<v Speaker 5>thing to fresh those options just.

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<v Speaker 2>Like adults can have.

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<v Speaker 1>So when you talk about the retail side of the business,

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<v Speaker 1>I feel like I'm shark tank all of a sudden.

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<v Speaker 1>But is it you know, Kroger.

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<v Speaker 3>Is it?

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<v Speaker 1>The regular Supers? Is good? Whole Foods? Like, where is it?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah?

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<v Speaker 4>I think natural channel first. Okay, definitely makes sense. But

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<v Speaker 4>accessibility is absolutely key for us. We don't want to

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<v Speaker 4>build a company just for the one percent, So I

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<v Speaker 4>think for us if you think about there's actually a

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<v Speaker 4>program called WICK, which is a food stamps.

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<v Speaker 2>Right women and children.

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<v Speaker 4>Over fifty percent of parents in the USR on WICK.

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<v Speaker 4>So that's another one of our north stars. You know

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<v Speaker 4>later on it's a state by state effort OBUs a

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<v Speaker 4>multi year effort to get onto WICK. But because we

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<v Speaker 4>are frozen, if there's a food desert that doesn't necessarily

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<v Speaker 4>have a the supermarket doesn't have a big fresh aisle,

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<v Speaker 4>we could still be merchandise in the freezer asle.

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<v Speaker 1>So are you guys profitable?

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<v Speaker 2>Not yet but close close.

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<v Speaker 1>That's really interesting And Matt, did you know kind of

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<v Speaker 1>tease at the beginning, what is the end game? I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>there's lots of capital or we used to talk there

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<v Speaker 1>was lots of capital out there. There's lots of money

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<v Speaker 1>on the side, we know, but no, I'm just curious,

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<v Speaker 1>do you guys want to stay private in terms of

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<v Speaker 1>growing it out or is it the endgame to go

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<v Speaker 1>public or potentially you know, link up with some other

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<v Speaker 1>big consumer products company, a consumer food COPT.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, great questions.

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<v Speaker 4>We're open to all options, but probably the latter makes

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<v Speaker 4>more sense. Stay private, and then you know, there's a

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<v Speaker 4>lot of innovation that the big CpG companies aren't currently

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<v Speaker 4>able to do as well as we could be. So

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<v Speaker 4>we see that as an opportunity definitely. And there was

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<v Speaker 4>a lot of M and A activity in this space

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<v Speaker 4>in the late two thousands.

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<v Speaker 2>Three baby food companies.

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<v Speaker 4>Sold back then, and you know, very little innovation in

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<v Speaker 4>terms of the pouch was the last big innovation in

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<v Speaker 4>the in the category about ten fifteen years ago. So

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<v Speaker 4>we definitely see the opportunity.

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<v Speaker 3>But we're starting to see more. I mean, Bobby has

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<v Speaker 3>come up out recently, which is baby formula that's you know,

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<v Speaker 3>healthier than you tip traditionally get in America, And so

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<v Speaker 3>the whole segment I think is kind of exploding, isn't

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<v Speaker 3>it or is it just because I had a baby.

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<v Speaker 1>I just have to say I've never mad for a

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<v Speaker 1>long time, twenty five years and like you know, twenty

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<v Speaker 1>five years ago, none of this stuff would have come

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<v Speaker 1>out of his mouth. It's really charming, really cool. You've

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<v Speaker 1>got to come back. Are you still doing subscription based?

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<v Speaker 1>Just really quickly, like ten seconds.

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<v Speaker 5>We are, yes, tiny organics dot com. We're still available

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<v Speaker 5>on subscription. You can get product delivered directory door.

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<v Speaker 1>I want this for lunch. Get it all right, Stay

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<v Speaker 1>in touch, let's know how you're doing in terms of growth,

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<v Speaker 1>and come back soon. Sophia Laurel and Carolyn Botitski. She

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<v Speaker 1>tiny organg Tiny Organics. I love it.