Goya, Beech-Nut Create Baby Food Line; Will The Latin Flavored Nutrition Hit The Spot?

Beech-Nut Nutrition and Goya Foods Inc. have collaborated to launch a new line of baby foods that cater to Latina mothers.

Goya Foods, which is one of the largest Hispanic-owned food companies in the U.S., found that there was an opening in the market for Hispanic-flavored baby foods for busy mothers.

"The Beech-Nut/Goya line of baby food offers Mom the best of both worlds," said Bob Unanue, president of Goya Foods, to Hispanic Business. "Hispanic moms, influenced by their abuelitas, oftentimes believe that healthy, traditional baby food can only be made at home using fresh ingredients."

And since many modern women don't have the time to cook everything from scratch, they turn to supermarket options. Unfortunately, the market offers very little to the Hispanic population. In fact, a study conducted by Beech-Nut found that two-thirds of Hispanic mothers are dissatisfied with the current baby food choices, and want more flavors to choose from.

"One-fourth of all births in America today are to Hispanics, so that any company hoping to grow their business must take their needs and tastes into account," explained Beech-Nut President Jeff Boutelle. "Because Hispanic families are also larger than non-Hispanic families, their purchase of baby food is 15 percent higher than for other demographics."

"That's where Beech-Nut/Goya comes in," added Unanue. "Our new line of baby food is the perfect union that bridges Hispanic mothers' desire for healthy, traditional baby food with their need for convenience and nutrition in today's hectic world."

The new collaboration between Beech-Nut and Goya hopes to fill that gap in the market by launching 22 Latin flavored baby food options, including: wheat, corn, oatmeal/bananas and rice/mango cereals; beef and chicken with broth; and jarred baby food in guava, mango, apple mango, banana strawberry, peach mango, squash, banana pear, apple guava, banana peach, carrots and peas, carrots corn, pear guava, and a vegetable medley with sweet potato, carrots and squash.

"Our research shows that Hispanic moms have been waiting for just such an offering, which combines the authentic, traditional Latin flavors Goya is famous for with Beech-Nut's nutritious, natural ingredients free of preservatives," adds Boutelle. "Our products are as close as possible to homemade, and that's very important to Hispanic families."

The new line of baby food will retail in stores all over the country by the end of June.