Once Upon a Farm is a purpose-led company committed to being more than just a kid nutrition brand. Based in Berkeley, California they offer the first and only line of fresh, cold-pressed organic infant fruit and vegetable blends. Early on, the company had a plan to grow into new categories with the goal of providing as many children as possible with the best-tasting, most nutritious and highest quality foods.
Services
Food manufacturer’s representative for state-by-state authorization and brand promotion in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC™).
WIC provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for over 6 million low-income pregnant and postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five. Every year, about half of the nearly four million babies born in the U.S. participate in the WIC program. While a federal program managed by the USDA, product acceptance is determined at the state level.
Through advocacy and generating awareness among WIC directors and nutritionists across all 50 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico, Blaze gets a client’s products authorized into the WIC program, increases the variety and number of client products available to WIC participants, and promotes the brand to drive new sales.
Project
Blaze was engaged to promote Once Upon a Farm’s WIC-eligible organic baby food bowls (the first line of fresh, refrigerated baby food eligible under WIC) and gain WIC authorization state-by-state. Only about half of the 50 states approve organic products for infants, and Blaze also advocates for infant organics to be added to the WIC program in more states.
Blaze maintains regular communications with state and national WIC representatives, attends and exhibits at state and national WIC conferences, and submits applications for WIC authorizations while raising awareness of and promoting Once Upon a Farm.
Impact
Blaze has been representing Once Upon a Farm since 2019 and has made significant progress getting the company’s WIC-eligible baby food bowls authorized in the states that accept organic fruits and vegetables for infants, while also encouraging more states to expand their authorizations to include organic baby food. Blaze also exhibits at state and national conferences to promote Once Upon a Farm and their WIC-eligible products to WIC leaders, staff and stakeholders.
