Elke Pascoe, founder of LittleOak, developed her goat milk formula after being inspired by her son's health issues and wanting to make infant formulas that were more natural for children.
Elke Pascoe, founder of LittleOak, developed her goat milk formula after being inspired by her son's health issues and wanting to make infant formulas that were more natural for children.
Elke Pascoe, founder of the LittleOak Company, talks to Tom Raynel about her journey developing healthy baby formula made from goat’s milk, inspired by her son.
What is the LittleOak Company?
We are a premium all-natural infant nutrition company. I started the company back in 2016 as a result ofmy son’s health issues, with a commitment to creating, at that time, infant formulas that were significantly better and more natural for children. LittleOak is a proudly New Zealand-milked and made infant formula company, that has spread right across the globe. And you know, proudly now the fastest-growing goat milk formula in Australia and New Zealand.
We’re not happy with the status quo in terms of the way that formula is traditionally made, and we’re trying to protect the natural goodness that’s in our New Zealand goat milk. Most importantly, we’re trying to create a fantastic, unique, wonderful experience for all our mums and dads across the world who have loyally supported our little brand.
This is one of my favourite questions. Goat milk is closer to human breast milk than any other mammal milk readily available. So I always talk about a spectrum. You’ve got human breast milk on one end, you’ve got whale milk, polar bear milk, goat milk, and then all the way down the other end, you have cow milk. And to get cow milk back to emulate anything that looks, tastes, and feels like human breast milk, there’s a significant amount of processing and synthetics that have to go into it.
Whereas goat milk is, from a taste, texture, and nutritional profile, significantly closer. There are naturally occurring probiotics, the protein profile is very similar, the fat profile makes it easier to digest, and there’s naturally occurring taurine. Our formula has up to 25% less synthetic ingredients than other formulas.
Elke Pascoe started LittleOak with the intention of making a healthier alternative to traditional infant formulas, now she's in the process of expanding into the United States.
We were one of those companies that, from when I started, I knew I wanted to buck the trend. But we were one of the companies that never, ever wanted to do China. You know, if you think back five to ten years ago, everybody was making infant formula to go into China. I decided early on that I didn’t want to do China, having lived there, and knowing the regulatory environment and how it can very quickly change.
I was acutely aware of how bad the infant formulas were in the US. It’s a huge market, so we always set our sights on the US as that jewel in our crown, because that was an apparent need. Five to ten years ago, every single one of their infant formulas had corn glucose syrup and maltodextrin, two horrible ingredients that nobody should be consuming, let alone a two-day-old baby. We then took on the steps to go through the full FDA approval, which, in and of itself is a huge undertaking.
We’re working very closely with MPI to achieve that because if we do, we’ll be the first New Zealand and dare I say, will be the first New Zealand formula company to get FDA approval. So that’s quite exciting. We’re working very hard at that, although we still have some way to go. We’re through the sort of the first third of it, with another half, two-thirds to go.
How are your kids involved in the business?
They both played a critical role in all elements of the business, everything from looking at logos and tasting products. They still have Formula Stage Three in their smoothies every day, because it acts like a protein powder for them, and they just love the taste. They’ve always been involved, it’s incredibly satisfying to have developed something for my child and then see them involved. And now, I’ve just had another baby, so it’s wonderful to see my “other baby”, helping nourish my actual little surprise baby.
LittleOak is one of the fastest-growing goat milk formulas in Australia and New Zealand, with the company amid a potential entry into the United States.
What would be your advice to other budding entrepreneurs?
I think you’ve just got to really protect your dream. You know there are going to be so many naysayers in your journey, and you’ve got to, if you’re passionate about it, and you know you’re committed to it, stay in the course and just keep pushing through no matter what anybody says to you.
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business and retail.
