The grocery aisles are filling with premium baby and kid snacks as parents increasingly seek organic, no-additive foods. Millennials and Gen Z consumers are driving a shift to “better-for-you” products, and niche children’s brands are benefitting.
Berkeley-based Once Upon a Farm (OFRM) exactly seized on this trend, going public this week. Co-founded by actress Jennifer Garner and former Annie’s CEO John Foraker, the company sells fresh, cold-pressed purees and refrigerated meals with no added sugar or preservatives for babies through school-age children. Its recent IPO offered 11 million shares at $18 apiece, raising about $198 million and valuing the company around $724 million. The stock opened near $21 on debut, about 17% above the offer, and briefly spiked to $21.70, before now hitting around $25, reflecting robust investor appetite. Now the question on investors’ minds: does the upside justify buying OFRM at this stage?
