Canberra mum pioneers Australia’s first high-fat, high-protein baby purees | HerCanberra

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Canberra mum pioneers Australia’s first high-fat, high-protein baby purees

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Becoming a mum to Harvey in 2019 completely changed Janae Henkel’s world.

And like any new parent, she wanted to give him the best start in life.

The Canberra public servant quickly learned of the impact of diet and nutrients on Harvey as he suffered from silent reflux and she noticed own diet influenced his symptoms while he was breastfeeding.

The move to starting solids created some anxiety in Janae – who wanted to do more than just fill Harvey up, she wanted to make sure he was getting everything he needed to grow and thrive.

“I’d been reading about the importance of fats, protein, and balanced nutrients for babies, and I was determined to give him meals that ticked all the boxes. But honestly, it was a lot of work. I was spending hours researching ingredients, cooking, steaming, and pureeing, and I just kept thinking, why isn’t there an easier way? Surely, I’m not the only parent going through this?”.

And yet when she turned to commercial baby foods for convenience, she was far from impressed with what she found on the shelves.

“Each pouch puree I saw at the shops was loaded with fruit, rice, wheat or beans (the cheapest ingredients), and contained very little protein and fat, and I wanted more nutritious options for my child.”

Australian Government guidelines recommend babies consume 30g of fat a day, as it provides essential energy for their rapid growth and development, particularly brain development.

When Harvey was diagnosed with global developmental delay at 18 months and then Autism Level 3 at two years old, it was overwhelming at first for Janae and her husband Jake, but they threw themselves into early intervention therapies—speech, OT, behavioural therapy.

And at the same time, Janae double downed on Harvey’s diet, experimenting with superfoods like bone broth, chia seeds, kale, and flaxseeds in the purees she was already making.

“Harvey’s always been a fussy eater, so I wasn’t sure how it would go—but to my surprise, he loved them. That was such a lightbulb moment for me. I realised this wasn’t just something for Harvey – it was something other parents could benefit from too.”

That’s how Little Harvesters was born and after years of hard work, the product launched last month.

Of course, it is a million miles from formulating superfood baby purees in your home kitchen to creating ready-to-eat pouches to supply to babies across the country, and Janae smiles with a little bit of exhaustion as she recalls starting up the business.

Enlisting the help of a paediatric dietician and immersing herself in the study of nutrition, Janae relied on her own recipe development before settling on a Victorian-based high-grade commercial food manufacturer to create pouches in line with Australian food safety standards (there was no such manufacturer closer to home).

It was a steep learning curve negotiated while keeping her part-time job in the public sector and giving birth to her daughter Noa.

“Another challenge was juggling the demands of raising a child with special needs while building the business. I learned to lean on my support network and stay focused on my vision.”

Baby Nico approves…

Yet her market research confirms that babies are up for superfoods.

“Our pouches are more savoury tasting than sweet, but babies have been loving this. We have been sent lots of pictures of babies happily downing their purees. Parents tell us they love having a healthy option they can trust and many have said they appreciate the transparency of our ingredients and that our pouches are different from anything else on the market.”

While it is obviously early days yet, Little Harvesters has a website and two retailers – Goodness Me and Healthy Life and Janae is in talks with other retailers to expand stockists for Little Harvesters.

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