Local Moms Create Natural, Healthy Food Company Geared Towards Kids

Katie Jesionowski of Summit and Silvia Gianni of Warren have started their own healthy and nutritious snack company geared towards children called MySuperFoods.

The company is committed to providing natural, healthy and nutrient filled foods for children and their first product of Soft Granola Bites provides a healthy snacking option for kids (or adults) on the go.

The women are dedicated to creating foods that are not just better for you, but are good for you.

After realizing that many solid snacks out there for children are mostly salty or sugary, the two realized that this was the perfect market to create food for toddlers that was nutritious.

The granola bites are rich in Omega 3, have three grams of protein and three grams of fiber and come in three flavors, Apple Raisin, Chocolate Chip and Blueberry Banana Acai.

“The chances are that kids aren’t getting that,” Gianni said. “So we fortified them with vitamins and minerals.”

Growing up, Gianni was a very picky eater and wanted to make sure her set of twins did not become so picky and were eating healthy nutritious food.

While living in New York, Gianni met Jesionowski, who was also expecting a set of twins and the two realized they shared the same passion for healthy eating and passing that onto to their children.

The two took the idea to create healthy and nutritious foods for younger children and started it from scratch while raising five young children between them.

Right now, MySuperFoods has Soft Granola Bites in 100 retailers, such as all Whole Foods across the Northeast and other health food stores including Vita Organics in Summit and online retailers such as, The Baby Grocery Store, Abe's Market and Amazon.com In June, the product will also hit Buy Buy Baby.

One of the biggest challenges that Jesionowski and Gianni faced was that they wanted to make a soft granola product without the use of flour and luckily they were able to find a fourth generation food scientist who understood what they wanted.

It took 20 iterations of the soft granola bites for Jesionowski and Gianni to get it right. The food scientist said the average is three or four variations, but Jesionowski said they did not want to compromise.

Jesionowski and Gianni are also committed to donating a portion of their earnings to food banks throughout New York and New Jersey, which they hope to expand nationwide.

“It’s alarming how many children don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” Gianni said.

The two also provided 80 cases of Soft Granola Bites to be added to school lunches in Summit.

“At the end of the day, the reason is we have children,” Jesionowski said. Adding that they want to create foods that they would feed their children.

“We did not want them to be empty calories,” she said.

Jesionowski would cook multiple versions of snacks and hand them out to children in their New York City neighborhood before moving to New Jersey to what the kids really enjoyed.

Since starting the company, Jesionowski has attended demos and trade shows with the soft granola bites. She said coming back from two trade shows, they have received a wave a great feedback, even from adults without children and the elderly.

“Our ultimate goal is an entire line of products,” Jesionwoski said. “More than just snacks.”

Jesionowski said the idea was to always be a brand and not just one product. So the two are working on another snack line for next spring.

For more on MySuperFoods and to view the company’s blog about nutrition, food, wellness, feeding your kids and more, visit mysuperfoodscompany.com.