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Baby-food meal kits strive to make the world better

From its plant-based, flash-frozen meals that minimize food waste to its use of a new molded pulp shipper with starch-based insulation, Raised Real works to preserve resources for the next generation.

The cooler and lid are manufactured via a proprietary process using 100% old corrugated containers.
The cooler and lid are manufactured via a proprietary process using 100% old corrugated containers.

Home-delivered meal kits are a fast-growing market, representing $1.5 billion as of mid-2017, according to Packaged Facts. They offer a number of advantages valued by consumers, especially younger ones: convenience, reduced food waste, variety, and—in many cases—fresh, healthy food options. One company that has hit the sweet spot in all these areas, as well as provides packaging that environmentally-conscious consumers can feel good about, is San Francisco-based Raised Real. Raised Real is a subscription-based service that delivers flash-frozen, organic, plant-based meals for babies six months and older in 100% recyclable packaging, including a molded pulp shipper with starch-based insulation.

According to Raised Real Co-founder and CFO Steve Kontz, the company was founded to help time-strapped parents who have a desire to feed their babies nutritious, whole foods to “do mealtime better.” Everything about Raised Real’s business—including how its products are prepared, the way in which it sells the meals to consumers, and its packaging and (lack of) collateral materials—is done in a way that addresses environmental sustainability.

“From a company standpoint, it makes so much sense because our goal is to give kids the best start possible, and it’s those kids we are feeding right now who will eventually inherit the problems we create environmentally,” says Kontz. “If we aren’t also doing our part to make the world they’re going to inherit better, then we’re not doing everything we should be.”

Raised Real flash-freezes its whole food to keep the nutrients in and to give consumers a choice as to how to serve the foods. For example, meals can be pureed for an infant, or mashed or served as finger food for an older child. Subscribers receive 20 curated meals every two weeks, with each meal individually packaged in a recyclable polyethylene bag.

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INTRODUCING! The Latest Trends for All Industries at PACK EXPO Southeast