Kiddie Gourmet update

Its just over 3 months since we started selling our baby food at the George Agricultural Show and a lot has happened since then. Each week we’re getting new orders from people who are so chuffed to hear about what we’re doing, and customers who are coming back for more – which is a good sign. People are excited about the variety of meals we have on offer and keen to try them. The feedback we’re getting is encouraging.

Our partnership with Farmfresh Direct has also been good, and each week we get orders which they then deliver along the Garden Route. Again, the positive feedback is very encouraging!  We’ve just had our first price increase, something we tried to put off for as long as possible! Just after the Show the cost of veggies, petrol, gas, etc began to rise and has just escalated over the months, unfortunately! It doesn’t seem to have affected us negatively, yeah!

The truth is that for us to sell enough for us to draw a salary from, we need to have a physical selling point. We need to open a store or get a stall at the local weekly Farmer’s Market. The Farmer’s Market turned us down when we first approached them, and we were just about to approach them to reconsider when we got a call inviting us to be part of a Food Market that has started in Mossel Bay.  The PrinceVintcent Archway Food Market is unique in that sells only food and that is perfect for us. Its open from 4-8pm on Friday evenings in Mossel Bay which is a good 45minutes drive from us. In the next week or two the holiday makers will be arriving from up-country and we think it will be a good place to sell our baby food. We are still very keen to retry the local Farmer’s Market and ask them to reconsider our application to have a stall there and will do that soon!

Some other interesting things have happened in the interim. A couple of months back we started making playdough, something we don’t see available in South African stores. The response has been incredible and we’re currently negotiating to sell the playdough nationwide through an art franchise and to pre-schools in other provinces. We’ve stocked the local toy shops and the response has been great! We’ve add the playdough and pavement chalk that we’ve started making to an online craft store that sells handmade goods. 

A fresh batch of playdough in a lovely variety of colours

The pavement chalk we’ve started with is a chunky stick the size and shape of a toilet-roll, perfect for little hands. We made Aimee a set for her birthday and one thing led to another – before we knew it, we were selling it, and again the response has been great! We’ve just sent a box of playdough and chalk to Gauteng where it will be sold at a Christmas market next weekend …. I’m looking forward to the feedback we’ll get. We’ve been wanting to package some chalk sticks in a bucket (like we could buy in Europe), again there is nothing like that on the South African market. It took us ages to find a bucket that would work for us, but when we did we decided to wait until finances were in place to buy the buckets.

 

One of the things we’ve made to use in our baby food recipes is Coconut Milk. We decided to try making a lactose-free ice-cream using the coconut milk after lots of research and recipe-collecting! It took us months to find an ice-cream machine that has a built in compressor that was suitable for home use. (Most machines available for home use are just stirrers, they don’t actually freeze the ice-cream, the bowl must be pre-frozen) We did eventually find one and purchased it about a month ago. We’ve tried a good half a dozen different combinations, trying to make the ice-cream lactose-, sugar-, gluten-free but have been met with failure almost every time! I gained a lot of respect for Thomas Edison doing so! We’ve only done half or dozen or so tries and I’ve got to work really hard not to get discouraged!

When the opportunity to sell our baby food at the Food Market in Mossel Bay arose we decided to make some frozen yoghurt to sell there and try and make buying the ice-cream machine worth our investment. So far, so good! The flavours we’ve made so far include vanilla, strawberry, blueberry, peach, chocolate, almond & honey and we sell it in 125ml tubs. And, once again, the response has been great! 

This week another home-schooling friend ordered 50 tubs of frozen yoghurt for her daughter’s birthday party and they were a great hit! Another mom decided there and then that she wants some for the 2 birthday parties she has coming shortly and others are wanting to order for Christmas. Last night one of the other stall holders at the market mentioned to Dieter that he is considering stocking our frozen yoghurt in his store over the holiday period and will contact Dieter to discuss the issue. I have no doubt we’ll be able to make the ice-cream machine worth our investment this summer!

Yesterday Dieter visited numerous nursery schools in town to advertise our playdough and chalk and in the process we were invited to various displays and events that are happening soon. The biggest surprise  was when one school told Dieter that they’ve decided to stop making meals themselves and asked if we are interested in making individual little meals for the children to eat for their lunchtime meal. What an interesting proposition. So, once again, we’re contemplating something new which does compliment what we’re already doing with the baby food.

There never is a dull moment, and we have a very clear sense that God is leading us every step of the way …. As I’ve said before …. Watch this space!