Happy Family (food company)

Happy Family is an organic baby and toddler food company in the US.[1] It was ranked No. 2 in Inc. Magazine's 2011 list of the 500 Fastest-Growing Companies in the food industry category.[2]

Happy Family
IndustryBaby Food
Founded2003
FounderShazi Visram
Key people
Shazi Visram, Founder & CEO
Jessica Rolph, COO & Founding Partner
ParentDanone
WebsiteHappy Baby Official Website

History

Happy Family, also known as Happy Baby, is an organic baby food company located in New York City.[3] It was founded in 2003 by Shazi Visram, the company's current CEO. In 2005, Jessica Rolph joined as COO and Founding Partner. The Company launched its first products on Mother's Day in 2006 - a line of organic, fresh-frozen baby meals sold through a New York grocery store chain.[4]

By 2010, Happy Family grew to more than $13 million in sales and was ranked 68th in Inc. Magazine's list of fastest-growing companies, with three-year growth of over 3,000%.[4] By the end of 2012, the company employed more than 70 people and its products were available in over 14,000 stores and 30 countries.[5]

The company secured $30 million in debt and equity financing from individual private investors through a number of financing rounds rather than selling equity to private equity or venture capital groups.[6][7] The company was independently owned and operated by moms until May, 2013 when Groupe Danone acquired a 92% stake in the company with both Visram and Rolph as current owner partners.[8]

Leadership

Happy Family is still led by founder & CEO Shazi Visram and COO & founding partner Jessica Rolph. Visram developed the idea as a graduate student at Columbia Business School, where she studied the baby-food market and child nutrition, and began building the company while in Business school.[9] Rolph, a Cornell Business School graduate, had a prior career at Whole Foods in research joined Shazi in 2005.[9] Amy Marlow, MPH, RD, CDN, and a contributor to HappyBaby: The Organic Guide to Baby's First 24 Months, serves as the company's nutrition advisor.[9][10][11]

References
  1. Inc. Magazine. "A Happy Business". Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  2. Inc. Magazine. "Happy Baby Profile". Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  3. "Top 10 South Asian Entrepreneurs". Inc. Retrieved 2011. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  4. Happy Family. "eBaby". Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  5. Happy Family. "Kids Nutrition Report". Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  6. Craine’s New York. "40 Under Forty – Shazi Visram". Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  7. Fox Business. "Young Guns Reloaded No Crying Babies Here". Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  8. "Danone acquires US organic baby food company Happy Family". Foodnavigator.com.
  9. New Hope 360. "Shazi Visram and Happy Baby Hit Jackpot in American Express Commercial". Archived from the original on 8 March 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  10. Happy Family Baby Food. "Our Team". Archived from the original on 27 June 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  11. HappyBaby: The Organic Guide to Baby's First 24 Months. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
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