Can a refrigerated jar of organic baby food make a splash on Wall Street? On Friday, it did.
Once Upon a Farm, the Berkeley‑based maker of cold‑pressed, organic baby foods and kid snacks co‑founded by Jennifer Garner, priced its initial public offering at $18 a share and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker OFRM. The stock opened at $21 — roughly a 16–20% pop from the offer price — and the deal raised about $197.9 million from roughly 11 million shares sold by the company and backers.
Numbers that matter
Depending on how you slice it, the company’s market worth looks a little different. At the IPO pricing the firm’s headline valuation was reported in the mid‑700 millions; once the shares opened higher, market‑cap calculations based on the public price put the valuation closer to $845 million. Those two figures aren’t contradictory so much as two ways to measure the same debut: the IPO value reflects the offer price and underwriting math, while the opening‑price market cap reflects what public buyers were willing to pay once trading began.
The company has been growing fast. In 2024 Once Upon a Farm recorded net sales of about $156.8 million — up roughly 66% year‑over‑year — even as losses widened, underscoring the familiar growth‑over‑profit tradeoff common among scaled consumer brands.
From little kitchen to public company
Founded in 2015 by Cassandra Curtis and Ari Raz, Once Upon a Farm built its brand on cold‑processed, refrigerated products marketed to parents worried about ultra‑processed options for children. Jennifer Garner joined as a co‑founder and board member in 2017, lending the brand a high‑profile voice (she’s often referred to in marketing as “Farmer Jen”). John Foraker, the former Annie’s Homegrown CEO, runs the business and has framed the IPO as a way to preserve the brand’s mission — the company is organized as a public benefit corporation — rather than taking a private sale that could dilute its stated commitments.
Management has said IPO proceeds will pay down debt, buy new production equipment and fund general corporate needs. The company originally expected to go public earlier but pushed plans back amid the long government shutdown last year.
Why investors tripped over themselves to buy
Two forces are at work. First, a broader consumer shift away from ultra‑processed items — particularly for children — has become a durable tailwind. Shoppers, regulators and a vocal slice of parenting culture have turned toward fresher, organic alternatives, and retailers have moved to grant those brands better shelf placement.
Second, markets have thawed after a stretch of volatility. With interest‑rate cuts on the table and a backlog of companies that deferred listings during tougher conditions, issuers and investors are more willing to test demand. This week’s crop of IPOs, including several that raised north of $150 million, made Once Upon a Farm’s debut feel less like an outlier and more like part of a revival in new listings.
Still, the path forward comes with questions. The brand’s rapid top‑line growth is offset by growing losses; sustaining premium pricing in a competitive natural‑foods aisle — and converting trial customers into repeat buyers at scale — will matter more than any opening‑day pop.
Analysts and active investors increasingly lean on new tools to parse filings and earnings signals. AI‑powered research platforms that help sift regulatory filings and financial data are becoming part of that toolkit, reshaping how quickly market participants can react to an IPO prospectus or a quarterly release. For example, newer features in financial research ecosystems let analysts cross‑reference filings and messaging far faster than before Gemini’s Deep Research. Even browser and search enhancements aimed at traders and reporters are nudging how market news is consumed and spread Google AI Mode.
The bigger picture
Once Upon a Farm’s public listing is, in some ways, emblematic of the moment: consumer brands with clear mission narratives and strong retail momentum can still attract investor appetite even if profitability lies a bit farther down the road. For the company’s co‑founders and its celebrity co‑owner, the IPO is both a funding event and a credibility test — a chance to show that parents will pay for refrigerated organic convenience at scale.
If the opening rally holds, it will give management room to invest in manufacturing and distribution without bringing in a corporate buyer that might alter the brand’s course. If it doesn’t, the company will face the same hard work of convincing shoppers year over year that its products are worth a premium.
Either way, this listing is a reminder that even small jars — and the stories behind them — can make waves on the big exchange.