Absolutely Mama meets Eva Joseph, co-founder of Eden’s Bloom. Eva started the baby food brand with her husband Darren Joseph, who you might know as Radio1Xtra’s DJ Target. Passionate about healthy eating and nutrition, when it came to weaning their daughter Eva didn’t feel right about feeding her the usual off-the-shelf pouches. As a busy working mum, spending hours in the kitchen batch cooking homemade meals was also a juggle. After a health scare, Eva had a lightbulb moment where she realised there was a real need for convenient yet healthy baby meals. The couple spent two years developing their nutrient-packed food pouches. Read on to find out more.

How are your meals made and where do you source ingredients from? 

The Eden’s Bloom range of Stage 1, 2 and 3 food pouches are complete meals, freeze-dried to lock in all the nutrients and goodness. These food pouches are made from whole fruits, vegetables and grains, that have been sustainably sourced from around the world. The natural ingredients are freeze-dried to retain essential vitamins and minerals, then combined to create delicious nutritious complete meals for little ones, age 6-months plus. Simply add water to the powdered pouches and stir for a simple, nutritious meal anytime, anywhere.  

Freeze-drying, also known as lyophilization, is a widely recognised, safe and effective way to preserve nearly all the nutritional value of fresh foods. In fact, it has been used by astronauts and adventurers for years to ensure they receive complete, nutritionally balanced meals that can be made in seconds. The raw ingredients in Eden’s Bloom have each been freeze-dried and then stored in powder form. Adding water, milk or plant-based milk to this, then rehydrates it for eating.  In comparison to dehydrating and canned foods, freeze-drying preserves the most nutrients. The process ensures that Eden’s Bloom meals naturally contain the vital building blocks for infant growth including calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, vitamin A & vitamin C.

Most current baby food brands use a process of heating to ensure that their products contain nothing that is ‘alive’, such as bad bacteria, but this process can also kill the good bacteria too. Some of these products can also include nutrient powders to add vitamins and minerals, as well as emulsifiers or acids to keep the colour and consistency looking nice.

All meals have no added salt or sugar, no hidden preservatives or nasties, just 100% natural ingredients.  All products are also allergen free* (*Allergens: Peanuts / Fish / Nut / Milk / Egg / Wheat / Shellfish / Soybean / Crustaceans).

Did you always love cooking? What sort of food did you grow up with at home? 

As a young girl I grew up in a household where everything was made from scratch; even a cheese sauce had to be homemade, and I would watch my mum make a roux as a base for the cheese to be added into.  It was a daily task to help my mum prepare dinner and this is where my love for home cooking came from.  This has transitioned into the way we eat in our home today, and my daughter, who is now four, also helps me prepare dinner each evening. I think it’s really important that our children have a healthy relationship with food, especially on an ingredient level. 

Growing up, I used to eat a wide variety of foods including meat, one of my favourites was braising steak with mash and gravy. My mum could put in the slow cooker first thing in the morning and leave on whilst we were all out at school and she went to work for the day. When we returned home it was ready; time management in our house was key, as not having a home cooked meal wasn’t an option for us due to the expense of having to eat out and takeaways in the 80’s wasn’t as mainstream as it is today. 

In 2016 I had a laparoscopy and I struggled to digest meat and so whilst I was healing, I opted for a vegetarian diet and then I just stuck with it because I saw a noticeable improvement with my energy levels, skin and all round health. 

Today, I continue to make homemade meals and my go-to is batch cooking or quick meals, so we tend to eat a lot of pasta and fish in our house.  My favourite dish at the moment is Pasta al Limone, which is a fancy word for lemon pasta.

Where do you find inspiration for new meals? 

As a health-conscious eater myself, it was important to me that my daughter ate as naturally as I do. As a new mum, starting to wean our then 6-month-old, I wanted to feed our daughter natural meals without compromising on quality. I didn’t want to resort to shop-bought pouches and jars, so I spent hours in the kitchen batch cooking food in the evenings, which would then be mashed or pureed and frozen for the week ahead. 

Shortly after, I lost my eyesight, which after investigation, was caused by a life-threatening brain tumour. After undergoing surgery to remove the tumour and experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions, understandably I couldn’t make Eden’s food as I did previously. This was the ‘light bulb moment’ that made me decide to set my sights on creating a product, for children, that would offer natural convenience feeding, without the nasties. Through my research, and through using protein and powdered nutrition supplements personally, I wondered why this couldn’t work for children too? And with that, Eden’s Bloom was born — providing fellow parents with a hassle-free solution for nutritious baby-led weaning.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when starting the business, and how did you overcome them?

We’ve spent the past two years perfecting our flavoursome, nutrient-packed products — guided by invaluable feedback from a community of parents and nutrition specialists.  Our vision was to create a no-fuss product that offers allergen-free and plant-based meal options, made from the finest ingredients that prioritises gut health, complex flavours, and happy, healthy development. 

During the two years it took us to bring the products to market, we had to change one of our recipes, as the main ingredient wasn’t available in Organic powdered form and so one of our biggest challenges was finding the right suppliers that have Organic freeze dried ingredients, which are made to the highest standards, as this is really important to us.

We also started the journey with over 35 different recipes, which has been narrowed down to 12. We literally tasted these recipes hundreds of times with other parents, as part of focus groups, as we wanted to bring to market meals that we knew parents would truly love and need.

How important is sustainability to the brand? 

Our delicious, nutritious, convenient meals are filled to the brim with wholesome goodness. Made from premium whole fruits, vegetables, and grains, which have been sourced from around the world — ensuring sustainability every step of the way. The ingredients are then freeze-dried to lock in their goodness, and then a team of expert chefs create flavoursome recipes using those ingredients, that they know your kids will adore.

Eden’s Bloom packaging is fully recyclable. Our packing uses PCR film (Post Consumer Recycled), which uses 28% less virgin polymer and as a result we reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% through the production process.

What sort of food do you and Darren eat at home with your daughter? 

At home we eat a lot of fish, pasta and vegetables – but mainly stick to a vegetarian diet. 

As a busy working mum, I do have a subscription with a well-known recipe box delivery service, it saves me time shopping and I know what we’re going to have for the week based on the recipes I’ve chosen. With time being our biggest commodity – every little helps!

And finally, can you describe a perfect family day?

This is a tough one, but for me it’s doing whatever makes Eden happy. She loves to feed the animals at our local farm, so we tend to go there and have a picnic afterwards. 

We also like to camp and attend kids festivals every year for lots of dancing, late nights and weird and wonderful activities for the kids to get stuck into. That’s always a great weekend out for the family.

edensbloom.com