Mums' treats benefit babies

An Auckland mother of two has channelled her breastfeeding frustrations into a new business venture. Jesse Wilson makes biscuits that offer nutritional benefits to expectant and breastfeeding mothers.

Totally Devoted biscuits, formulated for pregnancy, nursing and boosting immunity, hit shops nationwide last week.

A chef, Jesse has run a chalet kitchen and restaurant in Europe and a cafe in Wanaka. When she had her first child she moved back to her home turf of Titirangi to be nearer family.

Her experiences of breastfeeding Louie, 4, and later Maisie, 16 months, got her thinking about a targeted biscuit.

"Through both my breastfeeding stages I spent a lot of time with other mums, talking about feeding, whether we were making enough milk, whether our babies were putting on enough weight. We tried all the teas you can buy to stimulate milk production but they taste like grass.

"Totally Devoted was born from my desperation to find a convenient product that would help me through my breastfeeding stage and still taste great."

The biscuits contain fennel and fenugreek, which can help stimulate milk flow and counteract infant colic. While experimenting with recipes, Jesse asked breastfeeding friends to try the biscuits. Their responses encouraged her to press on.

As a baby, daughter Maisie suffered from eczema but Jesse found that after eliminating wheat and dairy from her own diet the eczema disappeared. "Many babies have an intolerance to wheat or dairy so I wanted to create something that was free from those ingredients," she says.

Jesse admits trying to make a wheat- and dairy-free biscuit "that didn't taste like dust" was hard. Every ingredient she chose has benefits, for example, oats to ease constipation, linseed for omega 3 and chia seeds for protein.

"I've always been interested in nutrition and natural things so that's kind of how the whole thing happened."

The result is the Totally Devoted trio of the pregnancy biscuit, the feeding biscuit and family biscuits with ingredients such as kawakawa and blackcurrant to boost immunity.

Having perfected her recipes, Jesse contacted marketer Blair Roberts, who brought his expertise to the partnership. The pair worked with a designer on branding and resealable packaging and figured out a launch campaign.

"It's been really encouraging to take them into shops and get some positive feedback from people," says Blair.

One of the biggest challenges has been finding a commercial kitchen in Auckland. Jesse splits her time between two. It's time-consuming to fill orders. She and Blair hope to speed up production by moving it to The Foodbowl, an innovation centre in Manukau owned by Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development (ATEED). Here, they can bake on a large scale.

For now, Totally Devoted will remain with three lines with which Jesse and Blair hope to establish a good customer base before considering expansion. In Auckland, the biscuits are sold at Nature Baby (and other shops on the website).

"We feel like we've found a bit of a niche in the market," says Blair. "If we can prove the concept here there's no reason that it won't take off overseas."

"They're a treat, really," says Jesse, "but you can enjoy them guilt-free, knowing you're benefiting the baby."

FOOD AS MEDICINE

"There's an age-old concept of food as medicine that I really like," says biscuit-maker Jesse, who sought extensive advice about her ingredients list.

"We had advice from herbalists and naturopaths and I worked with a food technician for advice on things like shelf life," she says.

Nutritional medicine practitioner Brett Friedman endorses the Totally Devoted range. "The cookies [have] wholesome nutrients, and provide the delicate but powerful support of carefully selected herbs that address the health of both mums and their babies," he says.

Web www.totallydevoted.co.nz

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TotallyDevoted