Organic snack food company Once Upon a Farm has come a long way in a short time to establish its brand and prosper. In just nine years, the privately owned California company has achieved one ambitious milestone after another and is preparing for its next phase of success.
Since 2018, Once Upon a Farm has nearly doubled the number of outlets that sell its nutritious baby food and snacks for children. In 2020, revenues reached $20 million. Looking ahead to satisfy future demand, the company last February installed automated SOMIC Packaging 424 W3 wraparound case packing systems at two of its co-packing providers’ facilities in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Orange County, California.
Once Upon a Farm was founded in 2015, by Cassandra Curtis and a group of entrepreneurs looking to modernize the standards of organic baby food. They answered the call from a generation of newer parents asking for healthier food options by using cold pressure, High Pressure Processing (HPP) technology to preserve the original nutrients without using additives or heat. With CEO John Foraker and actress, philanthropist, and entrepreneur Jennifer Garner on board as co-founders and chief brand officer, the company grew distribution rapidly across most channels and developed multiple experimental product lines to accelerate growth. Today, they employ over 100 full-time people and rely on several co-packers throughout the United States to service their national retail partners and consumer base.
“Once Upon a Farm has grown exponentially since our inception,” said Douglas Blake, the company’s director of co-packer engineering. “In 2018, we expanded nationally and reached more than 8,500 retail outlets. We are now in over 16,000 retail operations and growing every day.”
Prior to purchasing the pair of SOMIC case packing systems, Once Upon a Farm’s co-packers used manual labor to handle the products. They currently use several workers on the assembly line for each shift, but the change to a faster and more consistent method began with a visit to a packaging trade show in late 2022.
“We were impressed by the machine’s capabilities and knew there was an opportunity to streamline our production process,” Blake said. “We considered two other companies, but SOMIC was the clear winner because of its accuracy, capabilities with different boxes and overall customer service."
American Pasteurization Company (APC) in Milwaukee is one of the co-packers that runs the 424 W3 machines. Greg Zaja, APC’s vice president of business development, said the machine replaced "quite a few extra sets of hands we needed to have on the assembly line."
"The SOMIC case packer allows for greater hourly throughput with a far reduced risk of human error," he said.
Once Upon a Farm’s refrigerated pouches and frozen plant-rich meals are prepared at their co-packer's facility in Milwaukee. Two very different products, Blake said, only the spouted pouches are run on the SOMIC machine. Since they are processed with the HPP technology, the combination of speed and efficiency is of the utmost importance.
“SOMIC’s ability to run the type of box we wanted for our product was a key factor. Their team was more than willing to work with us to create a solution type that answered all our needs. They also had prior experience with chipboards in a size and similar thickness we were looking to implement,” he said. “Since we put the equipment into production, we have tripled our efficiency while using the same number of people. Currently, our goal is to pack up to 1.2 million pouches weekly on the SOMIC machines at each facility to accommodate demand for our growing business.”
About SOMIC Packaging, Inc.
With 50 years of experience, Minnesota-based SOMIC Packaging, Inc. offers design support for cartons, retail-ready and wraparound cases. Many international packaging brands use SOMIC’s advanced mechatronic systems to collate, group, and pack open trays, wraparound cases, trays with covers or lid inserts, and paperboard cartons. The Parts & Service department is responsible for all equipment installations, training and more.
