Liane Weintraub is one half of the dynamic “mompreneurial” duo behind the Tastybaby line of organic foods for babies and toddlers.  Along with her co-founder Shannon Swanson, graduate of the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School, and great-granddaughter of the founder of the Swanson Frozen Foods Company, the two have combined Liane’s media savvy as a former television news journalist, and Shannon’s taste for unique flavor combinations, to create a down-to-earth brand that not only tastes terrific, but has everyday moms and celebrities alike, buzzing.  Using a state-of-the-art blast-freezing technology, and fun, eco-friendly packaging, the brand is a departure from the highly processed jarred foods that currently dominate the market.  Furthermore, out of a total of ten brands ranked in Greenopia’s recently released Baby Food Ranking Guide, Tastybaby earned top honors for overall sustainability standards.  We here at Greenopia, had the opportunity to speak to Liane about her breakout brand.

Greenopia: What inspired you and Shannon to start Tastybaby?

Liane:  Our whole business is inspired by our children, if it weren’t for our children there wouldn’t be a company and we keep that very much in mind on a daily basis. Our goal is to give parents food that they can introduce their children to knowing that it’s the best possible version of whatever that ingredient is.

Greenopia:  What do you attribute the success of your brand to, and why do you think so many high profile celebrity moms have become such fans of Tastybaby?

Liane:  We’re very serious about the formulations of our products, but we have a very lighthearted approach to things like the names that they have like “Corn in the USA”, and “Life’s a Peach”, and it puts a smile on people’s faces and I think that for celebrities and others, it just works for them. 

Greenopia: How have philanthropy and activism informed the Tastybaby philosophy?

Liane:  Shannon and I never sat around and said to each other “let’s start a business together”……it’s almost as if that found us.  So, prior to [starting the business], the thing that bonded the two of us as friends was our charity work that we had done together.   So children and food and charity have been a through line to our story as friends all along, and so it’s part of the core values of our business.  It’s not something that we tacked on because we thought our consumers would love to hear that we’re doing something good in the world.  It’s really been a consistent theme in our lives.

Greenopia: You “blast freeze” your baby food.  What are the advantages of frozen baby food over traditional jarred baby food?

Liane:  So, this idea of “fresh” [produce] has probably ripened either in a warehouse or in a bin in a store or on your windowsill, or wherever it may be, and frozen foods tend to be picked at the peak of ripeness, cooked then and there, and then blast frozen.  That is the state-of-the-art freezing technology that we use, which really locks in vitamins and nutrients in a remarkable way----its been shown to by all sorts of agencies.  Even the American Cancer Society acknowledges that eating frozen fruits could be more beneficial in many cases than eating “fresh”[produce].

Greenopia: I see that you have a Tastybaby Bellini and other great recipes and advice on your website.  Is Tastybaby not just for babies? Is it safe to say that Tastybaby is not just a baby food brand, but also a way of life? 

Liane: [Laughs] There is a huge underground following of adults who love our products.  I can say that about the baby food line, and I can say that about the fruit snacks.  I sort of doubt that the infant cereals have made it over to be a crossover hit with adults.

We treat our website like a monthly magazine, and we change the content over a theme once a month. We are now in November and the theme has to do with giving thanks, and having a green Thanksgiving, and just things that are not related in any way to selling our product---it’s very much a part of our philosophy.

>> Check out Greenopia's Baby Food Ranking Guide to see where your brand of baby food ranked!