Disruptors, Take Note: The Laws of Gravity Apply to You, Says Once Upon a Farm's CEO

John Foraker had the best job in the food industry, he’s often said of his two decades at the helm of Annie’s Homegrown, building the brand from niche player to household name. He took the company public and, in 2014, led its sale to General Mills for $820 million, making the brightly colored packages and bunny logo even more ubiquitous in U.S. grocery stores. Continuing post-acquisition as an Annie’s senior leader, he says he wasn’t necessarily looking for a new gig. What could possibly compare to the ride he was on? But one thing—a personal investment in a tiny Berkeley, Calif.-based startup called Once Upon a Farm—led to another, and Foraker ended up jumping into the nascent farm-to-fridge brand with both feet. (Actor-producer-philanthropist Jennifer Garner was instrumental in the move. Read the origin story here.) Foraker and Garner became co-founders with Once Upon a Farm’s original inventors, Cassandra Curtis and Ari Raz, for the national rollout of the organic baby food brand in 2017. (It soon aged up to older kids.) The cold-pressed, non-GMO line, a first of its kind in the category, has gone from 350 to 9,000 retailers since then, with sales increasing from less than $1 million to more than $30 million. And Foraker, who also serves as CEO, says he and his team are just getting started. With a depth of experience and success in disruptor brands, Foraker has advice for those who hope to follow a similar trajectory. Here are a few of his tips: Know your why Foraker had long been suspicious of corporate mission statements. Shortly after graduating from UC Davis, he worked at a major bank that had one printed on its business cards. But he learned the brand wasn’t walking that walk, and cynicism ensued. When he took over as Annie’s CEO in 1998, he resisted for years formally writing down and making public the company’s values. But when he finally relented in the mid-2000s, he says, “The business just took off—every decision became easier, from where we should play to who we should hire to what partners we should work with. It was really powerful.” Foraker led the sale of Annie's Homegrown to General Mills for $820 million. That’s why he made it one of his first orders of business at Once Upon a Farm and why he recommends it now to entrepreneurs across industries. “Every emerging brand needs to come up with a mission statement on day one,” he says. “Don’t wait.” Garner, co-founder and chief brand officer, says the statement serves as both a guardrail and “a rocket ship toward achieving those goals that you really care about as a company.” Once Upon a Farm's mission statement makes clear its goals of nurturing "our children, each other and the earth in order to pass along a healthier and happier world for the next generation.” Go big or go home Not every rule is meant to be broken, even by renegades, says Foraker, who has always believed in a measured, slow rollout for young brands. That kind of strategy allows time to get a foothold, tweak practices and adapt as needed. He did the opposite with Once Upon a Farm. “We launched big,” he says. “We took a risk because we felt like we had a unique combination of assets—including a lot of earned media from Jen—and the ability to scale the business really quickly.” The approach worked, ultimately, but “was not perfect,” he says. The team had to course correct in a few areas, like trimming its store count by about 10% when its distribution plan proved too aggressive. “The disruptive mindset is key for emerging brands, but that does not mean that the natural laws of gravity do not apply,” he says. “They certainly do.” Eavesdrop and evolve In chatting with Once Upon a Farm’s early adopters, the leadership team learned that its elegant but bare-bones packaging captured parents who were looking for fresh fruit and veggie-forward products without additives. But the opaque packages—which Foraker called “pretty but kind of serious”—didn’t have much kid appeal. The first redesign, which added colorful accents and more graphics, resulted in a significant bump in sales. Though pleased with the results, the team thought it could go further. This spring, it launched a larger-scale rebrand of the products and website. The company added colorful accents and more graphics to its product redesign. “It feels very aligned with the brand purpose,” Foraker says of the new look, “while feeling a little more modern and a little cooler.” The moral of the story? Kid opinions matter, even on aesthetic elements. And brands need to build direct connections and become “an indispensable ally” to their consumers. “This does not have to be tons of expensive research,” Foraker says. “It’s just building a community through social, email or other groups and creating opportunities to interact and, most important, listen to them.”