Meet Zak and Little Duck Organics

From time to time I post about entrepreneurs I met while researching Julia's Child. Meet Zak Normandin, "dadpreneur" of Little Duck Organics.

Normandin started his company, as many do, because in the baby and toddler aisle of the grocery store “there wasn’t anything appealing to me.” His premier product, Tiny Fruits, are just what the name describes: dehydrated fruit, with nothing added, cut small enough for babies and toddlers. 

He didn’t like the ingredient lists he saw on a lot of products. “I saw added cane sugar as the second ingredient on a lot of these products. Why does a six to eight month old need sweeteners?” Tiny fruits are verified to be non-GMO, and they’re completely organic, and gluten free. The package says “100% Fruit” because that’s all that’s in there.

“I started everything in my basement,” Normandin recalls. Like many other entrepreneurs, his funding was bootstrapped, too. “I leveraged every credit card that I had.”

The gamble paid off, and now Little Duck has gone national at Whole Foods stores. It is also available at Market Basket and Big Y.

Normandin makes starting a company look fun. He had never run a food company before, but had always been interested in branding, and it shows. This is my favorite tagline:

 

“I’ve always liked products with a story, something to root for,” he says. Well, Zak, I’m rooting for yours!