Little Melly: The Lebanese baby food brand that brings healthy home meals to you
The below article is an interview with Jennifer Mansour an amazing mompreneur and the owner of LittleMelly organic baby food brand.
Our favorite part of her website:
"Ditch the rice cereals, baby food recipes and books. We’ve got you covered with only nutritious and safe meals for 6-18 months of age."
Jennifer, what inspired you to create LittleMelly?
Starting your baby on solids is such an exciting journey to begin. I’d like to argue that it’s one of the greatest journeys throughout a baby’s first year of life.
Before I became pregnant, I was not the type of individual who drastically looked out for what they ate. Sure, I had a well-balanced diet and intensively danced as a hobby and side gig, but I was nowhere near reading nutritional labels at the supermarket or replacing refined sugar with healthy alternatives.
As soon as I became pregnant with my first daughter, Melanie, it was like a trigger switched on inside of me and my whole outlook on nutrition and eating changed. Like many of you I’m sure, I downloaded all the baby applications, read so many books, and attended all sorts of workshops.
Babies are 100% dependent on the way we care and provide for them. It’s crazy to think that their whole future is dependent on what we fed them, how we hugged them, and the way we spoke to them from the day they were born. Research has shown that the first 1,000 days of a baby’s life are the building blocks and the foundations for a healthy future. Those first 1,000 days begin from the moment of conception! This is why great nutrition from pregnancy is so important.
From that perspective, I was inspired to provide Melanie with all the best foods and combinations.
The Inspiration Behind Little Melly
When Melanie was around 7 months old, I took on a part-time job and started to take Melanie to my mom’s house along with her food for the day. By end day, I’d discover that my own mom was eating up bits of Melanie’s food! So apart from Melanie, my mother was the one who encouraged me to create a brand that serves healthy and delicious food to babies.
I pondered it for a while but seemed to keep pushing the thought away. One night, we were at a family gathering and suddenly began to speak about children in need and how it would be so great to donate food to them. Instantly, this was a second trigger in me that switched on, and I confidently said:
“I’m doing it. I’m starting the brand: as a business but also as a mission.”
Working part-time also made me realize that there aren’t enough hours in the day to do what a woman wants to do! If I were to devote my time to advancing my career, there’s no way I can do it without sacrificing other things, like cooking for Melanie. It hurt to think that so many moms are probably facing that trade-off too. In Lebanon there are unfortunately no healthy baby food options in the market; it’s either home-cooking or store-bought processed foods.
What does the Little Melly Brand Offer?
We’ve been operating for almost one year now, and one of the most rewarding and special moments is when moms speak to me saying:
“I feel like I’m the one doing the cooking! It doesn’t feel like I bought food for them. There’s warmth and love in each meal”.
Beyond that home-feel, Little Melly is grounded in good nutritional value. Meals do not include salt, sugar, or processed foods. The meal plans are age-appropriate (from 6 months until 18 months) and updated each season so that only the current season’s organic fruits and veggies are offered. Moreover, we buy all our produce from certified organic suppliers across Lebanon.
Alongside our product offering, it’s important for us to be there for the parents. Just recently, we launched our private mobile application where all of Little Melly’s subscribers can text experts in the baby field with any question they have throughout each day, for free. The experts on board include a pediatrician, a gynecologist, a breastfeeding consultant, a baby sleep consultant, and a personal trainer.
What does healthy mean to you?
When I speak about a healthy beginning for our babies, it’s not just centered around a healthy diet. It also means a happy baby, a well-supported and content mother, and an involved partner. We aim to tackle all these areas through the different brand offerings continuously being launched.
In our core business, I think of this: I will never offer a baby something that I wouldn’t offer my own daughter. Melanie is to-date 19 months and still loving our meal plans on a daily basis: breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Healthy is also in the packaging and materials used. We’ve chosen to use glass jars, and they are exchanged at each delivery. The returned jars are disinfected and washed before usage again. When it comes to delivery, this is also really important. Food is transported in a clean car and in a cooler with ice packs to ensure the food reaches the client cold and safe.
Check out our website for more information: www.littlemelly.com
And follow us on Instagram! @littlemellysolids