Once Upon a Farm (OFRM) stock rose 16.9% in its market debut on Friday, as the Jennifer Garner-backed kids’ food brand went public amid a pickup in IPO activity on Wall Street.
The premium kids’ food company is known for its products, ranging from refrigerated pouches and oat bars to protein bars, puffs, and melts. Its core consumer is kids between the ages of two and five.
In the first half of 2025, the company’s sales hit $201.6 million, up 64.6% from 2018, as it expanded its offerings and footprint. In 2017, Garner and industry veteran John Foraker joined the company as co-founders alongside Cassandra Curtis, who founded the company in 2015.
Garner said at the time that she saw a “tiny little company” that offered organic, fresh, refrigerated food that she struggled to find as a mom. Upon meeting Foraker, she said the two shook hands, and the rest is history.
The company continues to evolve its product lineup, with a particular focus on protein as Americans dramatically increase their consumption of the macronutrient.
“We’re raising our kids alongside our consumers, so we know that protein is … at the forefront of their minds,” Garner said.
A majority of the company’s sales are made at retailers like Target (TGT), Whole Foods (AMZN), Kroger (KR), Walmart (WMT), and wholesale clubs like Costco (COST), Sam’s Club, and BJ’s Wholesale Club(BJ).
The company sources about 40% of its ingredients from foreign suppliers, but about 98% of packaging is sourced domestically. Foraker said tariffs “had a little impact” on the business and said the company has the ability to move sourcing, especially if a crop fails in a particular country.
No stranger to the public markets, Foraker took another organic foods company, Annie’s, public in 2012.
Once Upon a Farm’s debut came the same week that Bob’s Discount Furniture (BOBS) went public, with these IPOs among the most notable this year. In a report, Renaissance Capital said the IPO market is on “reasonably steady footing” to kick off the year, with nine listings raising $2.6 billion in January.
For Foraker, taking a company public this time around was different, calling Once Upon a Farm a “much more mature company … with a much bigger growth opportunity.”
“We’re going to continue to grow this business exactly the way we have before,” Foraker told Yahoo Finance when asked for his message to potential investors.
“The public markets give us an opportunity to do that on a bigger stage.”
