Stages Food NZ

In the News

Browse for recent news about STAGES frozen organic baby food.

February 2007 FMCG Magazine Category Check - Baby & Childcare

Littlies Magazine Healthier Options

January 2007 Bright Magazine Taking Great Ideas Further

Singapore F&B Show Stoppers

December 2006 Media Release Award-winning Babyfood on the menu for NZ’s first child-friendly café

November 2006 Her Business Red Hot Frozen Food

September 2006 Cuisine Magazine Food News from around the country

Grocers Review Kiwi food firms have sweet success at SIAL 2006

July 2006 Grocers Review Stages babyfood wins Gold at SIAL

June 2006 New Zealand Herald Just what baby needs - food in stages

FMCG Magazine NZ Products Make their Mark

Media Release Stages Wins Gold at Prestigious 2006 SIAL d’Or Food Awards

Next Magazine Baby Gourmet

May 2006 FMCG Magazine NZ Innovation takes on the World

The Aucklander Business Achievers get Just Reward

Business to Business Waitakere Staging Business Awards

September 2005 Littlies Magazine Cool New Stuff

June 2005 Media Release Stages Baby Food

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February 2007

FMCG Magazine

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January 2007

NZTE Bright Magazine

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NewsMag F&B (Singapore)

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December 2006

Award-winning Babyfood on the menu for NZ’s first child-friendly café

Newly opened Bang Bang is the first café in the country that has been wholly created to cater to both adults and children.

Even the littlest ones are catered for to the highest standard as Bang Bang has teamed up with Stages to offer their award-winning organic baby foods on the menu.

You might normally consider “contemporary’ and “child-friendly” an oxymoron – but not here. Housed in a historic building, located just down from a park on Brown Street in Ponsonby, every detail in the architecturally designed space caters to adults as well as children.

Sarah Dent, café owner and mum to two-year old Toby, knows first hand about the gap she’s filling in the local market. “I’ve basically created the place that I wanted to go to, somewhere that our friends would spend time with or without kids. Everywhere I go I meet mums, dads and nannies who, like me, are desperately looking for fun, engaging things to do with their children and to meet up with friends.”

At Bang Bang, parents can sit back in plush leather sofas, sipping organic coffee in full view of the safe play area that houses clean, modern toys and chalkboard walls. With room for prams, a barista who instinctively knows when a parent could use an espresso, and staff who love children, it’s a great place to catch up over fresh coffee and food.

Dana Mitchell, CEO of Stages babyfoods, thinks Sarah is onto a good thing. “It’s refreshing to know that there’s somewhere to go in the city that has thought about our needs as parents from an adult perspective, and that knows how important our children’s happiness is to us as well.”

Sarah was already a keen Stages customer when she contacted the babyfood maker, which came as a pleasant surprise for Dana. “Stages has only been on the market for eighteen months, so discovering that there are already happy babies like Toby growing up on our foods, and parents like Sarah who are just such great advocates for our products, is really a thrill.”

Frozen foods require specialised handling, and Dana acknowledges that one of the challenges is providing samples to the many parents who call or email and want to “try before they buy”. “Sarah came to us with an ideal proposition.” she explains. “Bang Bang is a fantastic environment for parents to come down and get a flavour for Stages.”

She sees a bright future for the partnership too. “Working with Sarah and her team means that customers will be able to try out exciting new recipes and ranges before they hit the stores.”

With Sarah expecting her second child in December, it’s not surprising that a café freezer full of Stages will certainly come in handy when her next baby is ready for solids.

Parents and children outside of Auckland won’t need to wait long to be served either. Plans are in the works to take Bang Bang to other areas around the country. With Stages going nationwide in supermarkets this year, it looks to be a winning business combination for both enterprising mums.

Bang Bang Café is located at 56a Brown Street in Ponsonby, Auckland. For more information, contact Bang Bang on 09 361 6010, or visit www.stagesfood.co.nz .

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November 2006

Her Business Magazine

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September 2006

Cuisine Magazine

Grocers Review

Kiwi food firms have sweet sucess at SIAL 2006. Cerebos Greggs Ltd and 42nd Parallel Holdings Ltd will be honoured next month amongst the category and country awards at the giant SIAL food trade show in Paris. Cerebos Greggs won the SIAL d’Or category award for Sweet Grocery Products with its Jelly Time instant powdered jelly dessert mix, launched in May 2005. Ready in just one hour and not needing to be refrigerated, the product drew praise from the judges for its innovation as a simple, quick-to-prepare version of traditional British jelly.
42nd Parallel Holding Ltd’s “Sweet Sensations Stages” carried off the SIAL d’Or country prize for New Zealand in the Sweet Frozen Products category. The product is a range of organic frozen foods specially designed for babies, which encourage them to chew by presenting a choice of flavours and textures. SIAL 2006 runs from October 22-26.

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July 2006

Grocers Review

Stages frozen organic baby food won a Gold at the prestigious 2006 SIAL d’Or food awards in Paris last month, where it was judged the best new product from New Zealand. The winning Sweet Sensations dessert was also a finalist in the SIAL d’Or Frozen Dessert category. The Stages range is the brainchild of mother of two Dana Mitchell and is designed to offer delicious, convenient and nutritious meals for babies who are starting to eat solid foods. The products are made from organic ingredients and contain no preservatives, sugar or salt. Stages has been in operation for only a year. “Sales have increased quarter on quarter and our home delivery service, which we began trialling in April, is also proving very popular with customers,” says Mitchell. The Stages range of frozen baby food products is currently available in ten supermarkets throughout the Auckland region and plans are to expand the range further and take it nationwide in the next few months. ACNielsen recently listed Stages as the number one frozen infant food product in New Zealand.

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June 2006

The New Zealand Herald

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FMCG Magazine

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Stages Wins Gold at Prestigious 2006 SIAL d’Or Food Awards in Paris

Stages frozen organic baby food has just won gold at the prestigious 2006 SIAL d’Or food awards in Paris, where it was judged the best new product from New Zealand. The company won gold with their ‘Sweet Sensations’ 8 month old dessert product, which was also a finalist in the SIAL d’Or Frozen Dessert category.

The SIAL d’Or awards are selected bi-annually by an international panel of 25 food journalists and recognise the best innovative food products in the world across eight categories.

Stages frozen organic baby food is the first stage-appropriate organic frozen baby food product launched in the world. The Stages range of baby products are made from organic ingredients and distilled water, and contain no preservatives, sugar or salt. The range of products - the brainchild of Dana Mitchell, a busy working professional and mother of two young children - has been designed to offer delicious, convenient and nutritious meals for babies who are starting to eat solid foods.

Says Dana Mitchell, Stages CEO, of the company’s recent win: “We created the range because we felt that all babies deserve the best start they can possibly get. To even be chosen for SIAL d’Or is high praise, so to be recognised with a gold medal is really special. This award puts us up with the world’s best new food products – we’re undoubtedly proud of the accomplishment and look forward to the local and international growth opportunities that SIAL winners experience.”

The award comes just as Stages celebrates its first birthday. Says Dana: “The past year has been very successful for Stages. Sales have increased quarter on quarter, and our convenient home delivery service, which we began trialling in April, is also proving to be very popular with our customers. We anticipate strong growth for Stages, and have recently moved our production to a pharmaceutical grade facility in Waiuku which will accommodate the needs of our growing business.”

Despite a limited release of the product in Auckland supermarkets last June, and against competitors whose products are available nationwide, AC Nielsen recently listed Stages as the number one frozen infant food product in New Zealand.

On top of the SIAL d’Or win, Stages was also recently selected as a finalist for two 2006 Waitakere Business Awards, in the Best Emerging/Small Business and Product Design and Development categories. The Stages range of frozen baby food products is currently available in ten stores throughout the Auckland region.

The company plans to expand the products reach by taking the range nationwide in the next few months. Plans are also underway to expand the product range with new and exciting seasonal product offerings. - Ends -