The name Annabel Karmel is synonymous with baby and toddler recipes and it’s now 30 years since her first book, The Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner, was published. It has sold millions of copies, making her a household name and a vital go-to guide for parents who want to introduce their children to different tastes and textures. But writing children’s recipe books wasn’t always part of Karmel’s plans. Her first book was inspired by the tragic death of her baby daughter, Natasha.

“I lost my first child. It was horrible. She died at three months. I’d waited nearly two years to get pregnant and then to lose her. She was born healthy and then she got an infection and it went to her brain and she died in Great Ormond Street Hospital [in London].”

Karmel says she speaks about the circumstances surrounding Natasha’s death because a lot of parents are not familiar with the dangers of cold sores and young babies. “If someone has a cold sore on their lip and they kiss a baby, it can cause a herpes infection which can then cause encephalitis which is exactly what happened to her. I didn’t know this was possible and we do know that someone had a cold sore and we think that’s what happened”.

Natasha’s death changed Karmel’s life. “I was a musician, I played the harp and I sang and I was even Cinderella in pantomime with Dennis Waterman and I loved my career, but from the day she died I knew that I wanted to work with children and do something to make a legacy for Natasha; to make some meaning from her very short life.

“To lose a child and not have a child is terrible. You’re no longer a mother. And all my friends had just had children and they all kept away from me because they didn’t want to come around with their children, so I felt terribly isolated. It was really hard.”

Following Natasha’s death, Karmel took the fertility drug Clomid and gave birth to Nicholas, the first of three more children. “Unfortunately, I always had really bad luck with my births. My doctor told me it would be a long time before I was in labour properly, even though I thought I was in labour, which I actually was and I gave birth on the staircase. No one came.”

“It was bad enough for any mother but it was pretty bad for a mother who’d just lost her child. It was horrendous. I thought ‘oh my God, if I lose two children in a row how am I ever going to carry on’. But luckily he was all right.”

She says her son Nicholas was “the world’s worst eater”. Having started a playgroup for mothers and babies following her son’s birth, she found herself sharing recipes she was trying out for Nicholas with other parents. “I loved cooking, it was always my great passion. I was giving out all the recipes to all the mums and they would try them…Every week I would give out more recipes and then a few months later, they said, ‘do you know what, you should write a book’.

“I just thought, well this is it, this is what I want to do. I want to write. I didn’t think it would ever be commercially successful, but I thought this is my legacy to Natasha. I’ll write this one book and that’ll be it.”

She spent 2½ years researching child nutrition and worked with the Institute of Child Health which is attached to Great Ormond Street. Although she sent her book to 15 publishers, none wanted to publish it and she began to fear all of her hard work and research might have been for nothing. The book, however, was eventually picked up by American publisher Simon and Schuster, and subsequently, Random House. “The book became a mega bestseller,” Karmel explains. “The second bestselling hardback non-fiction book of all time in the UK.”

“In a way it was cathartic for me writing the book. It was like me making some sense of her [Natasha’s] life, because otherwise why would she have lived? What was the point? And actually she threw me into that whole new sector of my life which was helping mums feed children healthy food which will help them in the end to live longer lives.”

Karmel tested out her recipes on the babies in the playgroup she had set up. “At that time everybody said ‘oh babies only like bland food’ and I thought ‘well that’s funny because I don’t like bland food, so why would they?’

“I wrote a book that was full of flavour,” she continues, adding that she found lots of alternatives to salt to bring different tastes to her recipes.

Karmel went on to write another 44 books. She has also developed an app, has her own children’s food line, including baby foods and readymade meals for toddlers and young children which will be in stock in many Irish supermarkets, and she’s venturing into developing a clothing range. Her recent book, Annabel Karmel’s Fun, Fast and Easy Children’s Cookbook, meanwhile, is one which encourages children to cook for themselves, a vital skill they can bring into adulthood, she explains.

“It’s such a fun activity, cooking,” she says. Her aim, she adds, is “to make children be self-sufficient so they can cook and have a healthier lifestyle. I think that a child who is able to cook will have a longer life because they’ll eat better quality food. I think what you’ll eat today will determine your future tomorrow.”

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It’s safe to say that the past 18 months have been a whirlwind for most, and businesses are no exception. Like so many across the world, we’ve had to face unforeseen obstacles and regroup, rethink, and reshuffle to stay on track.

Covid-19 came with its unique challenges for my children’s food brand – be that to our supply chain, to shopping and cooking habits shifting, or to adapting to an expanding team as we try to keep up with continued digital and sales growth.

Although I started out as a children’s cookery author, I’ve now branched out into award-winning retail children’s food ranges and a number one-rated recipe app, partnerships with global leading brands, and a strong online presence – I engage with 1.5 million parents weekly.

Being so diversified is both a blessing and a curse and it certainly keeps my team and myself very busy, but it also meant that we could be agile with our business strategy in the face of Covid-19.

Personal motivation

We all have a driving purpose and I believe that it is the ‘why’ you do something that equips and energises you to deal with the difficult times.

My career was born out of the grief of suddenly losing my first child Natasha at just three months. If it weren’t for this unimaginable loss and then my subsequent child, Nicholas, being such a fussy eater, I never would have had the motivation, nor perhaps purpose, to put pen to paper and write my first book The Complete Baby & Toddler Meal Planner.

I wanted to create a legacy for Natasha to give some meaning to her short life. I think losing someone so precious had a profound effect on me and drove me to dedicate my life’s mission to supporting parents as they try to help their child establish good eating habits for a lifetime.

Changing consumer behaviour

One of the many ways in which the pandemic impacted our lives was in how much time people were spending at home, cooking from scratch, and seeking recipe inspiration.

We saw a rise in traffic to our website and an uptick in sales from our revamped Healthy Baby & Toddler Recipe app.

With 25 per cent of total grocery shopping now being done online, we recognised this change and prioritised our focus to digital (including recruiting a new head of digital and sales director to drive this agenda).

As a company we live and breathe social – we now reach 1.5 million parents weekly via our channels and have 355k followers alone on Instagram.

I believe that success is because we provide valuable and honest information, as opposed to pushing our products. It’s so important to me that I’m striking a real and meaningful relationship of trust with parents – after all it’s the very reason I started my business, as my legacy to Natasha.

Out of your comfort zone

You can’t grow a business if you stay in your comfort zone. It’s the people who can survive failure that ultimately succeed. Every great entrepreneur has failed multiple times.

I should know, with my first recipe book I was turned down by 15 publishers before it was eventually published by Random House.

I realise now that the opposite of success is not failure, rather the opposite of success is not trying.

If I had been too scared to try, I’m not sure I ever would have been able to go from my kitchen table to the global stage, publish 48 cookbooks (and counting!), develop award-winning retail food ranges in supermarkets, create bespoke menus in some of the world’s leading hotels and leisure resorts, and have such an incredible digital following, as well as a best-selling recipe app in the UK.

Social media

Since my mission has always been to support parents feeding their children, I think it’s so important to share information freely online and not just in my books – sharing is caring after all. Not only do I want parents from all backgrounds to be able to access recipes, I also share expert advice, tips and more informative content.

Innovation

As a smaller brand, we can be agile and innovate in ways that larger brands with layers of bureaucracy cannot. Whereas own-label supermarket brands perform well for adult meals, when it comes to children’s food, established and trustworthy brands rule. This has allowed us to build up the trust and loyalty of parents around the world and to stay on the right track. Business during the pandemic It’s amazing to think of the waves of change that we have moved through as a business in the past 18 months. At the start of the pandemic, people were stockpiling, leading our chilled and frozen meal sales to shoot up. While in many ways this was beneficial for the business, it was also difficult to plan production. Our normal pattern of sales was disrupted, but we still had to set our forecasts weeks in advance. In March 2020, we were excited to have just launched an extension to our business – a nursery catering business. Then, with nurseries being closed across the nation, we had to pivot. Instead of catering for nurseries, we used our kitchens to make meals for hospitals and vulnerable people. The camaraderie during this time was wonderful, with Uber drivers and professional chefs volunteering to help. In addition to the changes in consumer behaviour and ways of working during the pandemic, we also happened to switch one of our suppliers during this time.

This saw us move to one of the top frozen manufacturers in the country. We also chose to move to sustainable packaging. As a result of the work that we did on the development of the range and the introduction of our new sustainable packaging, our frozen sales grew by 25 per cent. During the pandemic we also gained new retailer listings, grew our performance in existing retailers and become the solus children’s food brand for Waitrose, replacing our main competitor. I also managed to write a new children’s cookbook, Fun, Fast & Easy, to encourage and teach children how to eat cook.

Looking forward

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s the importance of diversification within our business. We’ve been able to come through this turbulent period positively due to the variety of products and benefits that we offer parents. With this in mind, we have partnered with the UK’s leading children fashion designer, Rachel Riley, to create a beautiful and unique clothing range. We’re also about to launch a brilliant new website to accommodate and better serve the enormous number of unique visitors that we now have to the site. Our innovation doesn’t stop there, we’re constantly cooking up new recipes and products to ensure that we’re giving parents and children the best food choices out there. For example this year we launched a chicken katsu chilled children’s meal and an organic yogurt (banana and strawberry flavour) in our baby food pouches. We have also just collaborated with Young’s to develop two new products in a bid to get children to eat more fish..

We were only able to do all of this because we rode the pandemic wave and didn’t try to build a dam of denial. I firmly believe that we need to constantly adapt and evolve as life unfolds around us, as we simply have no idea what’s in store – and the past 18 months are testament to that.

Annabel’s top tips to make your business thrive

1. Always be authentic.I believe that ‘why’ you make your product is just as important as the actual product itself. It’s this motivation that makes your customer proposition stronger and provides another reason for customers to believe in you.
2. Follow your passion.Figure out what you love, who you really are and have the courage to do that. I believe the only courage anybody ever needs is the courage to follow their dreams. You need that passion to give you strength to fight the battles that you will inevitably face in business.
3. Go out of your comfort zone. You can’t be a true entrepreneur without taking risks. Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. I believe that if you learn from defeat, then you haven’t really lost.
4. Believe in yourself. As a mother, you can lack confidence, especially if you have been out of the workplace for a few years due to having children. It’s so important to believe in yourself. In many ways confidence is as important as competence. There are many skills you learn from having a family, for example multi-tasking or people skills. You can manage any adult if you have mastered the art of managing an irrational toddler. Leave your mum guilt at the door and make your own rules!
5. Put yourself out there.Research the business awards suitable for you to enter and compile a strong entry submission. These awards are invaluable for not only brand awareness, but also brand credibility. If someone is choosing between your product versus a competitor, and yours has the award logo, it might just tip the balance. It’s also essential to promote your nomination once it’s accepted. It might feel a little presidential asking people to vote for you but more often than not your customers are more than happy to show their support!

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Annabel Karmel has teamed up with Young’s Seafood to launch a duo of fish-based, frozen children’s meals.

The duo – Fish & Chip Shapes and Cheesy Fish Pie – were created “to up children’s intake of omega-3” and would count towards their 5 a day, said the brand.

They are made with cod, pollock and Atlantic salmon, and will roll into the mults from 2 September (rsp: £1.75/200g).

The range would help children “explore the deliciousness and nutrient benefits of fish, while also offering parents convenience and peace of mind when it comes to quality”, said Karmel.

She added she was “on a mission to encourage little ones to widen their net and consume a greater amount and variety of fish to boost their omega-3 intake” and was “thrilled to be working with Young’s”, which had “long been committed to responsibly sourced fish”.

Packs will be adorned with diver and pirate characters designed to “feed imaginations”.

They would “become hero lines within the brand’s marketing activities, tapping into Annabel’s 1.5 million weekly digital reach”, added the brand.

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How to introduce finger foods from the start of weaning – what to serve and how to serve it

Let’s talk finger foods. From around six to six and a half months, you can introduce soft finger foods into your baby’s diet. Finger foods are the ideal way to introduce your baby to different textures. Handing over the reins to your baby will allow them to work out how to get food to their mouth, break pieces off and chew. Don’t worry, even if your baby doesn’t have teeth yet, you’ll be surprised by just how powerful a baby’s gums are! So, what finger foods are best for baby? And how do you prepare them so that they are safe for your little food explorer? Fear not! I’ve pulled together this handy reference guide on how to introduce finger foods from from the start of weaning – what to serve and how to serve it the very start of weaning – whether it’s carrot batons, broccoli florets, avocado wedges or chopped berries, I’ve got those first taste fruits and veggies covered! Ready for some finger food exploration? Let’s go!

F I N G E R FOODS IN THE FIRST FEW WEEKS

If your baby is new to finger foods, start with single veggies, and I always recommend sweet root vegetables such as carrot and sweet potato. After only having naturally sweet breastmilk or formula until now, these are foods that your baby is likely to by interested in, so a great place to start. However, it’s important that you also introduce more bitter green veggies such as broccoli and spinach at the beginning alongside those sweeter root veggies. If introduced early in your baby’s weaning journey (by that, I mean the first week of weaning and beyond), and with repeated exposure, it’s likely they’ll be more receptive to these foods in the long run.

You can start with offering a new food once a day for the first few days, and then increase this to twice a day by days three and four. In finger food terms, a small portion will be anything from two to four small batons of food. As a guide, your baby should generally be eating three small portions a day by the end of week two.

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