Baby food maker finds recipe for success

When Westlake resident Alyson Eberle scouted local baby food aisles in search of fresh food for her 6-month-old daughter, she said she was alarmed by the shelf life—often a year or more—of the products she found. Eberle wanted fresher food for Riley Grace, so she and her husband, Greg Godkin, ended up making baby food at home, she said.

Four years later Eberle's company, PureSpoon, is trying to change the way baby food is made, preserved and sold.

"Nobody has done fresh food before in terms of baby food," she said. "You can get fresh food for any age except infant. For a dog you can get fresh food, but [not] for a baby."

Eberle produces 10 varieties of baby food: Stage 1 is for babies at least 5 months old, and Stage 2 is for babies 7 months old and older.

The products are completely fresh and organic and have a shelf life of 60 days through a high pressure pasteurization process, she said.

"[Foods in] pouches or jars are preprocessed, boiled and pureed," Eberle said. "They are cooked in [containers] with plastic and chemicals."

Eberle said she consulted a licensed dietician prior to creating her recipes to ensure the food's nutritive value at every stage of a young child's life.

PureSpoon's raw ingredients are mixed in a rented kitchen in the Zilk's Foods Southwest Austin facility and packaged in 4-ounce containers, Eberle said.

"[Making baby food at home is] time-consuming," she said. "You have to go to the store, wash the food, cook it, put it in containers and then, if your child is finicky, [he or she] may not eat all of it."

Whole Foods Market purchased 720 cases—eight containers per case—of all 10 varieties for its stores, she said.

The company began stocking PureSpoon in its Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma stores during the first week of December, she said. The foods—which are priced by Whole Foods—sell for either $2.99 or $3.49 each, depending on the flavor, she said.

However, the grocery's Bee Cave store will not include the PureSpoon products, unless residents voice a demand for the baby food, she said.

Food with a higher purpose

After selling her 14-year-old tutoring business, PureSpoon founder Alyson Eberle said she wanted to start a business that matters.

"For every ounce [of food] we sell, PureSpoon will donate an ounce [of food] to an American child who does not have access to organic food," she said.

Eberle said she has already reached out to local nonprofit agencies—including therapeutic residential facilities Helping Hand Home for Children and The Settlement Home for Children—to potentially form a partnership and supply the groups with in-kind food donations they can use. She said she plans to make her first donation at 10,000 cases.

What's for dinner?

PureSpoon offers 10 varieties of baby food at select Whole Foods Markets:

• Spinach, Pear and Banana
• Sweet Potato and Apples
• Creamy Avocado and Pears
• Carrots and Zucchini
• Blueberry, Banana and Apples
• Simply Carrots
• Butternut Squash, Apples and Oats
• Creamy Avocado and Apples
• Apples and Broccoli
• Lentil and Sweet Potatoes

PureSpoon, 512-428-5137, www.purespoon.com, [email protected]