Last Monday I threw a few clothes in an overnight bag, bundled up my toddler and set off on the road along the coast. We were heading to the Organix headquarters in Bournemouth, to celebrate 25 years of the brand in a mini birthday party.
After a trip to the beach on Monday evening we spent the rest of the night at The Park Central hotel, right across the road from the seaside. We had a calm (HA!) meal in the restaurant followed by a three hour bedtime due to an overexcited toddler. The following morning we woke up vaguely refreshed (a night in a hotel with a toddler is rarely relaxing in my experience) ready to head to the Organix office and meet the team.
If there’s one office that makes me hanker for a regular 9-5 and give up working from home, it’s the Organix HQ. The building is light and airy, with a huge open plan eating area, garden and a team of passionate people who obviously really care about creating healthy and nutritious food for babies and children. This isn’t me quoting a sales pitch – and I know it might sound like that – but there’s honestly a really special feeling about the place that leaves you inspired.
In 25 years, the brand has worked tirelessly to change the face of the food industry. They’ve been pioneers in their field, campaigning for change, creating quality foods with a no junk promise and arming families with loads of support and information to help them make their own healthy food choices.
Did you know it was Organix who were responsible for the banning of the original blue smarties, for example? That was a direct result of their Action on Additives campaign. And the Jamie’s School Dinners campaign for healthier school meals was a result of Organix too. They don’t just make healthy food with organic ingredients (and no extra nasties), they also spend a lot of time and energy campaigning to raise standards across the food industry, which is a pretty big deal.
As a parent, I’m always after the quick and easy route. And, to be honest, it wasn’t until I started working with Organix a couple of years ago that I realised just how much rubbish is in loads of baby and children’s food. There’s nothing wrong with the odd treat – I’d be a hypocrite to pretend I never let my girls have the odd ice-cream or Friday after-school chocolate – but food that pretends to be healthy and is actually pumped full of sugar and additives? That REALLY annoys me.
And when you’re a knackered new mum overwhelmed by a huge selection in the baby food aisle, you might just assume (as I did) that all the brands on offer have the same level of integrity and are carrying the same no junk promise that Organix does. Unfortunately, this simply isn’t the case.
Once the toddlers were safely settled with the childminders in the special Organix play house in the garden (seriously – all offices should have one of these!) I joined Filipa from Gourmet Mum, Grace from Eats Amazing, Mel from Le Coin de Mel and Kate from Veggie Desserts to chat with the Organix team about their upcoming Sustainability Report and their plans for the future.
We heard about some of the inspiring ways Organix has led the way to campaign for better food free from junk for ALL children. We also chatted about the work that’s still to be done (my current bug-bear – the food in soft play centres!) and how the Organix team’s planning to continue to make changes not just for babies and toddlers, but for older kids too in their new Punk’d range.
After a predictably tasty and healthy lunch (I’m planning to recreate these chicken, avocado and mango wraps at home) there was a bit more playing before Baby Girl crashed out, ready for home. Obviously, she wasn’t keen on leaving though and protested at being made to say goodbye to the friendly team and office full of toys. Standard toddler behaviour.
Thanks for having us Organix!
(By the way, did you know that if you buy one of the special Gruffalo promotion Goodies packs you can get a free ticket to visit Chessington World of Adventures and see the brand new – and incredible – Gruffalo ride? We tested it out a couple of weeks ago and highly recommend it. You can watch our video of the day below!)
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I’m working with Organix throughout the year as a No Junk Mum. To find out more about how I work with brands check out my Work With Me page. All opinions, words and photographs remain my own.
I love Organix and of course so do the kids! They are that perfect option of food on the go that doesn’t compromise healthy eating. Their offices sound amazing, a garden too wow and the work they have done to improve health standards with kids food is amazing. That lunch looks delicious and I had no idea they have been around for 25years!! Happy Birthday Organix
Laura x
They’re a really inspiring brand. x
Beautiful photos! I was only thinking the other day how Organix have done a fantastic job of making quick healthy snacks the norm for toddlers. Amazing company x
It really is such an inspiring brand x
Wow, 25 years! never would have guessed, but it makes sense as they are most mums go-to brand for snacking for toddlers!
I know, right? 25 years is a pretty big milestone!
Oh wow, this looks like such a lovely day and we loved Organix when the kids were younger. I had no idea they were based in Bournemouth x
I didn’t either until I first visited. It’s such a lovely office too!
What a lovely opportunity to find out more about Organix. I had no idea about the blue Smarties campaign – good on them! I share your loathing of food masquerading as being healthy. Being a parent is hard enough without having to second guess whether food that purports to be good is in fact good!
Isn’t it? At least stuff like icecream and chocolate is good honest badness – we know where we stand with it! x
It really does sound like a lovely place to work, and I had no idea Organix were behind such huge changes like getting rid of the blue smarties! x
I used Organix food when my baby was weaning – I didn’t know it was a better brand, just something about it appealed more than others! Great post, Molly!
Looks a great event. Big fan of Organix stuff. I was hoping to come along to this too, but was on my hols.
Ok so their offices look pretty amazing, we love Organix but I had absolutely no idea they had been around for so long!!
I know right? Such a brilliant brand and they’ve been doing pioneering things for 25 years!
We are huge Organix fans!! My baby girl has just moved up from the sweetcorn rings to the older carrot stix x
Confession: I sometimes steal the kids’ carrot sticks for myself!
The girls and I loved your video. We’re Organix fans too but I had no idea about how much work they’re doing behind the scenes with the wider food industry. Looking forward to checking out the Punk’d range.
It was really interesting and inspiring to hear. F is a huge fan of the Punk’d range, I think Talitha would love them too! x