Janae Henkel does not like to cook. So when her then-baby son, Harvey, started eating solids, she wanted something to save her hours of puréeing a healthy mix of proteins, fat and fibre in the kitchen. 

“I remember just thinking, oh my gosh, there has to be a better option,” says the Canberra local. But she couldn’t find it.

Neither could researchers from The George Institute for Global Health, who recently discovered that none of the infant or toddler food products on the shelves of Australian supermarkets meet World Health Organisation standards.

Dissatisfied with the status quo, Janae set about creating her own ready-made purée meals for babies and young children. Her quest became all the more pressing when, at two years old, Harvey was diagnosed with high-support-needs autism. 

Alongside their son, Janae and her husband, Jake, dove into a range of intensive therapies. “And we doubled down on his nutrition,” says Janae. “I started experimenting a lot more with superfoods – things like bone broth, chia seeds, kale and flax seeds – and creating all these really great recipes. 

Janae and her children, Harvey and Noa.

“Harvey loved it all, which I was very surprised about. And it made me think, if I can support my son with this, I’m sure so many other parents out there want to support their kids, too.”  

In January of 2025, Janae launched Little Harvesters – a range of high-fat, high-protein purée pouches filled with wholefood ingredients. Harvey is now six years old – and brother to his baby sister, Noa. 

“It was a very long time from idea to launch – but we’re really happy now that it’s out there, in the real world,” says Janae. “And we’re getting great feedback from parents, which is lovely.”  

Like many new business owners, while Janae was busy turning her idea into a reality, she parked the thought of protecting it. 

“For many years, I felt things like IP [intellectual property] were so intimidating. I didn’t even know where to start, so that was in the too-hard basket for much longer than it should have been,” she says. 

“One of the first pieces of advice that everyone gave me was: you’ve got to protect your brand, you’ve got to protect your idea. And I would always say, ‘yes, yes, I know that’. But I didn’t know how to do it.”

Again, like many new business owners, Janae assumed the process of securing her IP would require a lot of time and a lot of money spent on a lawyer.

“It wasn’t until about six months out from launch that I started looking into it, thinking it would be complex and expensive. But I found the IP Australia website and straight away I was like – I can do this! It made the steps really clear, I did the application myself and I didn’t pay anything other than the fee to register my business name and logo.” 

Through IP Australia, a registered trade mark – which provides exclusive rights to use your business name, logo or other identifiers in Australia – has a standard application cost of $250 per class of goods or services. You can expect to wait a few months from application to registration.

“If I could go back, I would prioritise it so much sooner than what I did – because it isn’t something that’s super complex,” says Janae. “The process was so straightforward and I was able to do it all online myself.”

While the Little Harvesters name and logo are protected, Janae says that more brands may jump on the baby wholefoods purée bandwagon.

“Just like other industries, there are copycats in FMCG [Fast-Moving Consumer Goods]. That’s why we’re so focused on building brand recognition and strong customer loyalty,” she says.

“The product quality we have – bone broth in every single pouch, superfoods, organic veggies, high-quality meats – is what sets us apart. So I really think that if someone tries to copy us, the audience will be really aware of who the best is out there – we’ll have built that up.”

“It’s about understanding the difference in our ingredients – and making sure that it’s palatable to the wider audience.”

Another point of difference is Little Harvesters’ sleek, simple and distinctly non-primary-coloured branding and packaging. 

“I wanted something that looked different – not only on shelves, but also something that was marketed to parents, not to babies,” says Janae. “Parents are the ones choosing the product, so I want something that would speak to me. We also wanted the ingredients to be the hero – so it’s just about what’s inside.”

On that point, Janae was particular when it came to the production of her puréed meals.  She met with three manufacturers before landing on her perfect match. 

“With food in a pouch, there’s a process to it. And some manufacturers over-process the food by cooking it at higher heats than necessary, which means a lot of nutrient loss,” she explains. 

“So I spoke with my manufacturer and made sure that we would create these pouches in the best way possible to preserve all the goodness in there – and they were really great at working with me to do that.”

Contrary to how it might sound, Janae does not come from a business or food industry background. While building Little Harvesters, she works a full-time government job as a senior social media manager for the NSW Government. She’s also taking part in Seedlab Australia, a Woolworths Group-funded small business incubator and accelerator program.

“I think there’s always going to be a bit of burnout while you’re building something bigger,” says Janae, when asked how she’s managing it all. 

“My husband has joined me in the business and, six months in, we’re both still working our full-time jobs, both still parenting small children. So it’s been very busy, but we’re hoping to really scale up and get this business to a place where it can be our full focus.”  

Little Harvesters already has more than 350 stockists across the country, including Harris Farm and Go Vita health food stores. Next year, they hope to hit the shelves in major supermarkets. 

“We’re focusing on mass education and awareness, so customers understand why our pouch costs more,” says Janae. “It’s about understanding the difference in our ingredients – and making sure that it’s palatable to the wider audience.”    

Having been dubbed by the media as the “Aussie mum changing the baby food game”, the question is, has Janae grown any less avoidant of her kitchen? 

“No,” she says. “My husband does all the cooking!” And she signs off with this advice for fellow entrepreneurs:

“As a female founder in the food space, I want other women to know they don’t need to have all the answers – just the willingness to learn and take that first step. And get your IP sorted.”