After finding most commercial baby foods didn’t contain the government recommended level of nutrients and fats, Canberra mum Janae Henkel stepped up and made her own. 

Becoming a mum in 2019, 33-year-old Janae found her life turned upside down.

Dealing with a newborn with reflux issues who wouldn’t settle at night, Janae was quick to learn that the only thing that helped was changing her diet when breastfeeding her son.

“Like any parent, I just wanted to give my child the best start in life,” she says.

“That was what really opened my eyes to how powerful nutrition can be for kids.”

After this revelation, Janae fell down a rabbit hole of researching the importance of fats, proteins and balanced nutrients for babies.

“I wanted to give Harvey food that ticked all the boxes,” she says.

“It was a lot of work, I was spending hours researching, searching for those ingredients in the stores, cooking, steaming, pureeing, all the things, and I kept thinking that there had to be an easier way.

“Surely, I wasn’t the only parent going through this.”

Her research ground to a halt when baby Harvey was diagnosed with Global Development Delay at 18 months and was later diagnosed with Level Three Autism.

Janae threw herself into therapy with Harvey, going through speech and behavioural training, although she found herself doubling down on his diet.

“I really wanted to make sure he was getting the most nutritious foods to support his development while we were doing therapy,” she says.

“I started experimenting with super foods like bone broth, chia seeds, kale and flax in the purees I was making.

“Harvey is a fussy eater, so I wasn’t sure how it’d go, but he loved them.

“For me, that was a light-bulb moment.”

Like many people on the Autism spectrum, Harvey was particular about the texture and taste of the purees, which saw lots of trial and error in the kitchen to create the perfect blend.

Now armed with some recipes for success, Janae dusted off her research and met with a pediatric dietitian.

“I was new to the food industry and had no contacts or knowledge, I was just a mum with an idea.” she says.

“It was a little bit daunting.

“[The pediatric dietitian] helped me tweak the recipes to make sure we were hitting all the right notes for babies.

“It was really important that every ingredient had a purpose.”

One thing that Janae stayed clear from was including fruits in her Little Harvester purees.

In her early search for food that would help Harvey sleep, Janae was shocked to find nearly all baby food on shelves was overly sweet and made up of fruit.

“Fruit is great… in moderation,” says Janae.

“Babies form their palate at a very young age and what they eat early on can affect their preferences later in life.

“We’ve found that by having more savoury flavours with superfoods, kids are more likely to continue these habits as they eat solid foods.”

A statistic that shocked Janae during her research was the 30 grams of fats that the Australian Government recommended babies consume each day.

“The average pouch purees on the shelf contain one to one and a half grams of fat in them,” she says.

“Ours have five grams of fat in them.

“We’re really trying to make sure that we’re making a difference by giving babies what they need.”

Janae says every step of the way has been helped by Harvey, the namesake of their brand.

“Harvey has been my biggest guide,” she says.

“He’s my inspiration and has taught me so much about patience and determination, and I guess overcoming all the different challenges that life can throw at you.

“I’m really proud to give back, not only to him, but also to families across Australia.”

Launching her brand, Little Harvesters, in January, Janae says Canberra has been a huge support behind her.

“Canberra is so supportive,” she says.

“We have such an amazing community and I feel so lucky to be starting up here.”

The range of Little Harvester purees is available at littleharvesters.com.au