Happy Family is an

organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

and

baby An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

company in the US. It was ranked No. 2 in ''

Inc. Magazine ''Inc.'' is an American business magazine founded in 1979 and based in New York City. The magazine publishes six issues per year, along with surrounding online and social media content. The magazine also produces several live and virtual events y ...

''s 2011 list of the 500 Fastest-Growing Companies, in the food industry category.

History

Happy Family was founded in 2003 by Shazi Visram. Visram developed the idea as a graduate student at

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one ...

, where she studied the baby-food market and child nutrition, and began building the company while in business school. In 2005,

Jessica Rolph Jessica Rolph (born 1974) is an American entrepreneur and businesswoman. She is the CEO and co-founder of Lovevery, co-founder and former chief operating officer of Happy Family, and co-founder of the Climate Collaborative. Early life and edu ...

joined as COO and founding partner. Rolph, a Cornell Business School graduate, had a prior career at Whole Foods in research. T he company launched its first products on

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the ...

in 2006 - a line of organic, fresh-frozen baby meals sold through a New York grocery store chain. By 2010, Happy Family grew to more than $13 million in sales and was ranked 68th in Inc. Magazine's list of fastest-growing companies, with three-year growth of over 3,000%. By the end of 2012, the company employed more than 70 people, and its products were available in over 14,000 stores and 30 countries. The company secured $30 million in debt and equity financing from individual private investors through a number of financing rounds rather than selling equity to private equity or venture capital groups. In May of 2013, Groupe Danone acquired a 92% stake in the company with both Visram and Rolph as current owner partners.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Food and drink companies established in 2006 Baby food manufacturers Organic farming organizations Food and drink companies based in New York City 2006 establishments in New York (state) American companies established in 2006 Groupe Danone brands