Recipe for a business

Heather Schoenrock, a Duluth mother of three, had been making organic baby food for her children for years —- steaming, pureeing and freezing fresh fruit and vegetable recipes at home.

The personal endeavor took an unexpected turn when Schoenrock brought some food for her third child, Jack, to a play date with friend Connie Pope and her son, Avery.

“For me, the light bulb was the peas,” said Pope, a Norcross mother of two. “When she pulled out the peas she had made for Jack, they were green. They smelled like peas. They tasted good.”

Two years later, Pope and Schoenrock have turned Schoenrock’s frozen organic baby food into a business called Jack’s Harvest. After building a customer base through home delivery and Internet sales, the company recently crossed a major threshold, gaining shelf space at metro Atlanta Whole Foods Market grocery stores.

Jack’s Harvest faces competition as distribution broadens. It will be going up against major brands, such as Gerber Organic and Earth’s Best, which sell organic baby food in jars or plastic packages at room temperatures.

A host of smaller companies also are popping up that make frozen organic baby food. Like Jack’s Harvest, these companies tout freezing as a way to retain vitamins, flavor and color.

Jack’s Harvest sells its food in 12-ounce bags of frozen heart-shaped servings at $7.49 a bag. They come in 10 flavors, including Yummy Bunny Carrots, Tango with Mango and Lip-smacking Sweet Potatoes.

Organic baby food was a rarity on store shelves a few years ago, but customer demand is growing, said Vince Griesman, Whole Foods grocery coordinator for the South region.

Jack’s Harvest caught the attention of Whole Foods because it’s locally produced and the owners have a passion for the business, Griesman said. Schoenrock and Pope are frequently in metro Atlanta Whole Foods stores doing their own tastings.

“They’re able to share their passion and interact with the customer,” Griesman said. “This is something they’ve grown their kids on.”

Griesman said he does not normally eat baby food, but a sampling of Jack’s Harvest also was key in helping get the product on store shelves. “You try it and go, ‘Wow, that tastes really good’,” Griesman said.

When she started making food, Schoenrock said she never envisioned turning it into a company. She started making organic baby food because her first child, Lucy, kept getting sick. Lucy is now 9 years old.

Doctors couldn’t pinpoint the problem, so she decided to try making her own organic baby food and remove as many allergens from their home as possible.

“It wasn’t like a miracle —- one day she’s sick and the next day she’s not,” Schoenrock said. “She just got incrementally better. I thought, ‘There’s something to this’.”

The diet worked so well that she did the same for her next two children, Sadie, 5, and Jack, the 2-year-old namesake of the company.

Pope, a close friend, noticed the bags at the play date about two years ago. After seeing the organic peas for Jack, Pope said she couldn’t go back to feeding Avery peas from jars. Pope also has a 6-year-old daughter, Kathryn.

“I don’t know if it was mommy guilt,” Pope said. “I would go to get a jar, especially with the peas, and I said, ‘I can’t.’ “

She asked if Schoenrock could make food for her to feed Avery. Soon other mothers were asking for Schoenrock’s food. “I knew you didn’t sell food you make in your kitchen,” Schoenrock said.

So the two mothers developed a business plan. They got a business license and organic certification. After attending a local summit hosted by Whole Foods, they went through another round of food certification.

Donning plastic hairnets and aprons, they now spend three days a week in a commercial kitchen east of downtown Atlanta.

Jack’s Harvest is a return for both women to the business world. Before deciding to stay home with her children, Schoenrock was an information technology consultant. Pope was in marketing for a dotcom.

The company is still a small operation. It estimates 2008 revenue will be $60,000 to $75,000 but expects to double that amount next year.

Schoenrock and Pope know they face competition as their company grows, but they said this is more than just a job for them.

“In the very beginning, I told Heather that the reason this company will be successful is that we believe in what we’re doing,” Pope said. ” If you go to Heather’s house, she mops the floor with vinegar and water…We’re not just trying to get in on the bandwagon.”

Jack’s Harvest

Founders: Heather Schoenrock, president and Duluth mother of three, Lucy (9), Sadie (5) and Jack (2); and Connie Pope, chief marketing officer and Norcross mother of two, Kathryn (6) and Avery (2).

What they make: Frozen organic baby food. Stage 1 comes in 1-ounce portions. Stage 2 comes in 3-ounce portions. Sold in 12-ounce bags for $7.49. Flavors include Butternut Squash-ed Apples, Tango with Mango and More Peas, Please.

Where it’s available: Atlanta area Whole Foods and Harry’s Farmers markets, Eco Emporium, the Mercantile, Nuts ‘n Berries, Return to Eden, Six Beans and Star Provisions.

Web site: Visit www.jacksharvest.com for a complete list of flavors and retail locations.