Local entrepreneur Heather Stouffer, creator of the organic babyfood line Mom Made Scoops, will roll out her product in eight area Whole Foods Markets this month. This is the first major grocery store chain to carry the products.
The company, which makes frozen “scoops” of broccoli, apple, pear and sweet potato puree, is the only certified producer of organic frozen food for children in the mid-Atlantic. Stouffer launched the Alexandria-based company last May and has been selling the baby food on eGroceriesDelivered.com, a company that delivers groceries in the Washington/Baltimore region. Mom Made Scoops will be available at Whole Foods locations in Falls Church, Fairfax, Vienna, Alexandria, Springfield and Arlington.
A technology consultant-turned-business owner, Stouffer was already making organic food for her infant son and decided to expand beyond her kitchen.
“I wanted to offer an alternative to making your own baby food. [Parents] don’t want to cave and heat up mac and cheese and chicken nuggets every night,” Stouffer said. “But a lot of us do because we just don’t have the time, no matter how educated we are about health.”
Stouffer’s entry into the grocery store market comes at a time when the organic food sector is taking off.
Organic products are the fastest growing part of the agriculture market, said Craig Minowa, an environmental scientist with the Minnesota-based Organic Consumers Association. They are a $25 billion dollar industry worldwide with sales that have grown between 18 and 20 percent annually over the last five years.
Note: Craig Stouffer, husband of Heather Stouffer, is a sports writer at The Examiner.
