Local mom to launch line of prepared foods

According to studies conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food allergies affect about 1 in 13 children, or two students per classroom. In many cases, allergies will develop before a child’s first birthday. While reactions to food allergies vary, the most serious of them, anaphylaxis, can lead to death.

Buckley quickly understood the allergen problem faced by parents, but disagreed with the conventional solution.

“Going back 20 years ago, we were told, ‘Don’t introduce the big nine to your child before they’re 1,’” said Buckley, referring to the nine most common allergens. “But it’s actually making the allergy epidemic worse. The baby food industry is great at introducing fruits and vegetables, but they’re actively excluding allergens, which is potentially harmful for children later on.”

Last month, Buckley gained FDA approval to launch Bebe Bitez, a line of prepared foods for kids age 4 months and up. The home-delivered frozen meals will allow parents to introduce allergens such as milk, soy and fish to their children in stages. USDA approval is pending for additional Bebe Bitez dishes that include meat.

“It’s already really hard to feed your child, but then remembering all of the things that you should introduce before they’re 1 is even harder,” she said.  

Buckley said she made sure that Bebe Bitez labels take the head-scratching out of shopping because, as a parent, she found baby food packaging to be confusing.

“You turn it over and you have to really squint to read the small print and it says, ‘May contain peanuts,’” she said. “Well, what does that mean? Does it contain peanuts or doesn’t it contain peanuts?”

Buckley started the R&D process for Bebe Bitez with recipes she had cooked at home for her daughter. Then she consulted with pediatric dietitian-nutritionist Jenny Janov, who made some tweaks here and there. Next came the taste-testing phase, during which Buckley gave sample meals to Coastside moms in her friend group.

“We got real feedback from the kids that could talk,” said Buckley. “I had one little girl who was 3. She said it would be great if the pieces of broccoli were a little bit smaller, so we chopped the broccoli into smaller pieces.”

While waiting for FDA approval, Buckley talked with a lot of local moms who offered to spread the word about her business. That prompted her to create a sales model based on partnerships with women advertising mom-to-mom. Rather than being required to purchase and resell products, “chief mommy officers” will simply receive a commission when someone they’ve referred places an order on the Bebe Bitez website.

“I hope what I have here is something that’s really kind of game-changing, not just for the nutrition community by developing kids’ palates and introducing allergens, but also just for working mums,” said Buckley.

Next week, Buckley will host an information session for prospective “chief mommy officers.” The plan is to launch the Bebe Bitez product line in January on the Coastside, then expand to the Bay Area, Southern California and Oregon. By 2024, Buckley hopes to have a nationwide distribution network.

Ultimately, the proof will be in the proverbial pudding. But Buckley is confident that Bebe Bitez offers a viable alternative to traditional baby food.

“For example, quinoa and apple with broccoli all mushed up — that’s disgusting. Who eats that?” she said.

Bebe Bitez meals, on the other hand, are tasty, full of texture and even use spices.

“We’re giving our kids food that we would eat ourselves,” she said. “We’re trying to develop kids’ palates.”