The proof is in the porridge Anyone who has ever, or is currently, trying to introduce a baby or toddler to good food and healthy eating habits knows how hard it can be. Any help is hugely welcome, especially if it comes in the form of nutritious, variable and tasty food. Alex&Phil is changing the market of ready-made meals for children, one yummy pouch at a time. By Pia Petersson | Photos: Alex&Phil
With a background as a human rights lawyer and a diplomat at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jenny Wessblad Hårdh is not the most obvious entrepreneur in the world of baby food. “Even though I’d always had a great interest in food, I had no experience from the food industry when I started Alex&Phil. In a way, I think it has been advantageous since I entered the industry with no idea of what’s possible or customary. Instead, I’ve set our re50 | Issue 133 | February 2020
quirements specifications based on what I want to achieve – creating first-class baby food that’s nutritious, without additives – unlike how others in the industry work,” Wessblad Hårdh begins.
The secret recipe Like so many other great ideas, Alex&Phil was born out of a realisation that there was something missing on the market – namely genuinely natural, good and
nutritious ready-made meals for small children. “I started Alex&Phil because I couldn’t find any baby food of such quality that I’d like to eat it myself. For the same reason, I didn’t want to give it to my child. I simply thought it was wrong that the baby food available didn’t taste, smell or look like real food,” Wessblad Hårdh explains. Along with a range of fruit- and berrybased porridges and smoothies, Alex&Phil also includes tasty meals such as cod, chicken, vegetables and several vegan meals with good protein sources, something that is brand new in the baby food business. So, what is it about this brand that makes it stand out from the crowd? To begin