He hired a "co-packer" in the Midwest that would fill the pouches with applesauce.
Soon after, adults discover applesauce in their hair, on their watches and in remote corners of the kitchen.
Meanwhile, applesauce in squeezable packaging is now 15% of the applesauce category and driving most of its growth.
Mr. GARDNER: Do you put applesauce or sour cream on your potato pancake?
Karsten Robbins, a 39-year-old father of two, is familiar with the mayhem that often occurs when a toddler attempts to eat applesauce.
"They start out with real food, so let's give them credit for applesauce and mashed-up bananas, " but "the rest of it is sugar, " she said.
WSJ: PepsiCo's Tropolis Fruit Puree an Attempt to 'Snackify' Drinks
Dr Pepper Snapple, makers of Mott's juices and applesauce, said it has considered making a squeezable fruit product but has no immediate plans to launch one.
WSJ: PepsiCo's Tropolis Fruit Puree an Attempt to 'Snackify' Drinks
If your pharmacist says it is OK to mix the pills with food, you can also hide them in yogurt or applesauce and see if your child will slurp them down.
"It's more than your standard applesauce, " Mr. Ford said.
WSJ: PepsiCo's Tropolis Fruit Puree an Attempt to 'Snackify' Drinks
Potato pancakes, perfectly crisped on the outside, are also slightly crunchy on the inside, making for an extra-chewy treat (sour cream and topnotch homemade applesauce helped appease a table of eager diners).
So Robbins knew he was on to something when, in late 2007, he traveled to France with his wife and young sons and bought his children small, flexible pouches of applesauce that they could hold with both hands.
Its squeezable applesauce, called GoGo Squeez, sells for 99 cents. (Mott's apparently has no plans to sell applesauce in squeezable pouches.) In April, Robbins will launch three new Smashies flavors, an apple variation and two other kinds of pureed fruit.
He discovered a trade publication called Flexible Packaging and in it, found a manufacturer in California that could recreate the pouches used by Andros and Materne: a blend of recyclable, food-grade plastic and aluminum, with a resealable pouch that could hold 90 grams of applesauce.
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