Unhappy with most of the baby food sold in stores, Dr. Jennifer Lefner had made her own with farmer’s market produce for her two children, now ages 11 and 13.
When Lefner heard stories years later of farmers having to dump produce during the pandemic, that sparked an idea for a startup she thought could help.
Just over a year ago, Lefner began selling jars of fresh baby food through the startup Seedlings Baby Food.
“That's how it started, thinking we can help support local farmers by buying their produce and then fill this void of supporting families with convenient, fresh baby food delivered right to their doorstep,” Lefner said.
Lefner — chair of the pediatric department for the Saratoga Hospital Medical Group and head of the newborn medicine division — said she's always cared a lot about the quality of the food she feeds her family, but she knows working parents often don’t have the time to source their own food.
"It’s way more work and time consuming than one could ever imagine,” Lefner said. “I thought it was going to be easy … and especially for a working parent, it just is very laborious."
She said she woke up one day with the startup idea and then contacted the farm 9 Miles East near Saratoga Springs, which agreed to partner on the idea.
Lefner was familiar with the farm because the owners' children had gone to school with her children, and she had purchased catering services from the farm previously.
"We also knew that they had just opened a restaurant with a commercial kitchen, and they had a delivery model in place,” Lefner said.
The farm now provides most of the ingredients and handles the manufacturing and packaging for the product. It's sold out of the farm’s restaurant or via its delivery system. Apples for the product are provided by Saratoga Apple.
The product for ages 4-7 months contains one ingredient and costs $4 per jar. The next product, for ages 7-9 months, contains two to three ingredients and costs $6 per jar. The product for ages 9 months and older contains three or more ingredients and costs $6 per jar.
The product is made with in-season produce and uses no sweeteners, salt or preservatives. It’s tested for safety through the lab at Cornell University.
The startup has sold 80-100 jars per month primarily through word-of-mouth, and Lefner has plans to triple that in the next six months. The startup has just reached the positive cashflow threshold in the past few months, she said.
Now, Lefner is working on adding produce from other farms into the mix. She’s also in conversations with some local restaurants about having the product on children's menus.
She’s also working on building a website — in partnership with the startup Digitally Grounded — where customers can purchase the product directly.
Lefner is considering selling in stores, but she wants to make sure the product can continue to be fresh. A first step could be selling in local food co-ops, she said.
"We want as few hands on the product as possible,” she said.
Lefner has worked with some business advisers in the area, including through the services at The Palette Cafe in Saratoga.
"Not only did none of them tell us this was a terrible idea, but all of them were very supportive and thought that the model was really positive and something that could be truly successful."
