Business & Tech

Scarsdale Native's Baby Food Business

Marna Altman, mother of a 2-1/2 year-old and an 11-month-old, is a popular mom on the playdate circuit. 

Though Altman describes growing up in a meat-and-potatoes-family in Scarsdale, she feeds her own babies fresh organic baby food that she makes herself and shares with other moms. 

Gesturing to the "GardenFreshBaby.com" banner over her Wilton Farmer's Market stall, Altman, who currently lives in Westport, seems surprised at her own success.

"We didn't know as much – we grew up in a different way," Altman said. "I feed my babies fresh, organic food like smoothies with carrot juice or tomato juice. And I make eggs and add spinach and tomatoes. They love it."

Explaining the genesis of her burgeoning babyfood businesses, Altman said, "We'd have playdates and the moms would always ask me 'What did you make this week?' because they knew I kept frozen purées inside Ziploc bags and would share."

"After sharing the baby food, I thought, wait, maybe there's a business here. I never intended to make a business, but the idea is proving to be something big and very worthwhile," said Altman.

On a sultry August afternoon at the Wilton Farmers Market just before a downpour, Altman waited on a steady stream of customers. None of them had babies. 

"It's so good that it's not just for babies," said Altman. "In fact most of our customers don't have children in the baby age range," adding that lately she's been filling and shipping care package orders to ship to college students. 

"They taste like chocolate, but there's a lot of zucchini in there," said Altman of the chocolate zucchini biscotti she sells.

Altman even sells teething biscuits, which she recommends storing in the freezer to preserve the fresh fruit or vegetables hidden inside. The business started with the baby purées (of said playdate fame) and moved on to hot cereals and later to teething biscuits and biscotti. 

"We do deliveries in Fairfield, Wilton and Westport and ship to states all over the country," said Altman. "I also do prepared meals like a Farmer's Pizza on a multi grain crust and a farmer's sauce that blends in whatever vegetables we have on hand." She sells the pizzas at farmer's markets pre-cooked and ready to go. 

"People like fast, easy options. So, I also sell whole wheat apple pancakes and quinoa mac-n-cheese which tucks in a lot of vegetables in the sauce."

To learn more, visit GardenFreshBaby.com online or say hello to Altman on Wednesdays at the Wilton Farmers Market or on Fridays at the Rowayton Farmers Market.

The preceding story was written by Patch Editor Leslie Yager and posted to Scarsdale Patch by Editor Chris McHugh.


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