While organic and gourmet baby food aren't new, they've mostly been limited to jarred varieties. Start-ups in two categories are widening the options for parents who want to feed their infants something fresh, but don't have the time or talent to prepare their own gourmet purŽes. They also provide inspiring examples for entrepreneurs interested in catering to this niche.

Fresh

First, there's the refrigerated, prepared foods section. Following the lead of fresh convenience foods for adults, companies like Swedish Gapa are focused on creating fresh, healthy and tasty foods for tiny people. Gapa, which is Swedish for open your mouth, is conservative-free and sold in cheerful containers in Sweden's second largest supermarket, as well as in four trendy restaurants, a smart move for reaching parents who enjoy taking their babies out for dinner.

In the United States, several entrepreneurs have developed similar concepts. Californian Homemade Baby's certified organic and kosher food for infants and toddlers is freshly made each day. Stressing an important selling point of gourmet baby foods, Homemade Baby claims that "when babies learn what real food tastes like and how good it makes their little tummies feel, they are on their way to making good food choices for life."

Californian tots can also dine on fresh organic baby foods from Bohemian Baby, available for those aged 6Ð15 months. Bohemian Baby offers home delivery within LA. A USD 45 start kit contains a special cooler and four jars of food. On the East Coast, Evie's Organic Edibles delivers freshly made foods within Manhattan. Parents can select dishes from menus that vary weekly and are designed to help stimulate developing taste buds.

Websites: www.gapa.se - www.homemadebaby.com - www.bohemian-baby.com - www.eviesorganicedibles.com
Contact: info@gapa.se - info@homemadebaby.com - info@bo-baby.com

Frozen

Gourmet, ready-made baby food also extends to the frozen food aisle, where inspiration can be found from Mom Made, Plum Organics, Happy Baby and NummyNums, all offering food that's organic and flash-frozen, locking in flavour and nutrients.

Most of these brands are relatively small and regional start-ups, founded by parents who couldn't find foods they wanted to feed their babies and toddlers. We haven't spotted any of the major manufacturers venturing into fresh or frozen baby food, so now's the time to start your own line of delectable and healthy dinners for wee ones (by the time you're up and running, they'll be ready to buy you! ;-). As Happy Baby puts it, "think outside the jar."

How to make your brand stand out? Beautiful and informative packaging will obviously help win shelf space at upmarket supermarkets, and Gapa's idea of selling to restaurants is clever. As are Happy Baby's combined packs, containing two flavours each, and all of the convenient frozen portion concepts that can go straight from freezer to microwave. Last but not least, home delivery is a good way to get this type of business up and running. So get cooking! ;-)

Websites: www.mommadefoods.com - www.plumorganics.com - www.happybabyfood.com - www.nummynums.com
Contact: info@mommadefoods.com - info@plumorganics.com - info@happybabyfood.com - info@nummynums.com

Spotted by: Okee Williams

Related: Halal baby food

Beverly Hills-born DoMyStuff.com is an online marketplace where busy people can quickly find others to do their chores, from mowing the lawn or picking up dry cleaning to researching a cruise or planning a party.

How it works? Someone posts a task, choosing a relevant category and describing the task in detail. Businesses and individuals then bid for the task. Bids include the total cost to complete a task, when it will be completed and information on the service they will provide. The customer reviews the bids and chooses an assistant. Customers can view in-depth information on the service providers, including their names, locations and the ratings they've been awarded by past employers.

In addition to the bidding system, DoMyStuff has integrated several other features that take it beyond posting casual jobs on Craigslist or other boards. First of all, a rating system lets users share information on the quality of service providers. Which is important, considering many chores take place in or around a customer's home, making safety and reliability a key issue.

Secondly, to establish trust between buyers and providers, DoMyStuff provides an online escrow system that allows customers to forward payment for a task into an escrow account. While the task is being completed, neither customer nor assistant have access to the funds, but the assistant is able to see that the account has been funded for a specific task. Once the job has been completed to the customer's satisfaction, the funds are released to the assistant. Which protects both buyers and sellers.

DoMyStuff's charges service providers a commission if they're awarded a job. Commission rates vary according to a job's category and total cost, ranging from 7Ð10%. The service is free for buyers, who have the option of paying a small fee to highlight their project, bringing it to the top of a category (much like Google's sponsored links). The company is currently focused on Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. One to start up locally before they go global?

Website: www.domystuff.com
Contact: contact@domystuff.com

Spotted by: Josh Reynolds

What could be better than having an insider walk you through his or her favourite spots in a new city or travel destination? How about having access to a whole library of such tours that can be downloaded right to your iPod or MP3 player? That's what Chicago-based AudioSnacks is offering consumers. Users can download audio tours of select destinations and can put up their own tours for purchase.

"AudioSnack is a place to find, purchase, download, listen to and appreciate audio tours that people just like you have created to share, and a place where you can do the same for others." Tours are modestly pricedÑsome are even free. Many feature downloadable maps to accompany the audio footage, and customers can listen to a sample snippet of a tour before deciding to purchase.

Already there are tours available for destinations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, South Africa and more. Customers get a unique perspective and insights: they can take an audio tour through Chicago with a Jewish hip-hop poet, for instance, or see the sights in Seattle with a hot DJ. Since members are encouraged to create and upload their own tours, the library is likely to grow quickly. The company is also building a new section, offering campus tours for (upcoming) freshmen "who look lost no matter how many times they've looked at their maps."

While AudioSnacks isn't the only company offering MP3 tours (see Soundwalk, TourCaster, Tourist Tracks and others), letting users upload and sell their own tours makes for an interesting twist. It's a great example of Generation C(ash): consumers are producing valuable content, and expect to be rewarded accordingly. Definitely one to set up in your own country or language.

Website: www.audiosnacks.com
Contact: audiosnacks@gmail.com

Last month, we wrote about the Chinese phenomenon known as tuangou, or team buying. In a nutshell, people interested in buying a certain product get together online, and then storm into a physical store at a coordinated time to negotiate a bulk discount. Tuangou is a prime example of crowd clout: consumers using their collective power to get what they want.

A new website in Malaysia does something similar, but sticks to buying and selling online. Like tuangou, Tumpang, which is Malay for pooling, makes it easy for buyers to pool their resources to get a bulk discount on everything from fabric freshener to flat screen televisions.

However, Tumpang has added an interesting twist on the seller's side. Much like eBay, anyone can post an item for sale, paying Tumpang a listing fee. The seller states what the discounted price will be and how many buyers are needed. Sellers can be regular retailers who want to offload stock, but Tumpang's blog also lists advice for incidental bulk dealers. Which could be anyone hoping to make an extra ringgit by gathering a group of buyers on Tumpang, and then placing an order directly with a manufacturer in China or Korea. Securing buyers before buying merchandise creates a low-risk form of alternative retail. Which should be music to any minipreneur's ears ;-)

Website: www.tumpang.com
Contact: support@tumpang.com

Spotted by: Webwatch Malaysia

Sydney-based Todae offers businesses practical advice for cutting down energy and water usage and reducing their environmental impact.

For AUD 399, a Todae consultant will come to an office or store and check everything from recycling to heating and cooling systems. The business is then provided with a detailed report that explains how to cut costs and go green. Todae's service is geared to small to medium businesses looking to save money, be less harmful to the environment and create a "strong environmental brand ethos" amongst customers and staff.

It's an excellent concept, and Springwise believes many consumers would also be interested in environmental assessments. Plenty of people would like to diminish their negative impact on the earth, but aren't sure exactly what to do about it. Or are too lazy or busy or both ;-) Having an environmental expert come to the door and give a home a full check-up would definitely help. Besides compiling a checklist of very specific issues to improve, 'home greeners' could of course offer to implement the necessary changes, too. So, set it up, brand it well (how about eco badges for homes?), and start knocking on doors. Before you know it, you'll be running your own franchise.

P.S. Todae also sells a wide variety of eco products for homes and businesses, both through their website and from a recently opened shop in Sydney's Glebe district.

Website: www.todae.com.au
Contact: info@todae.com.au

Spotted by: Catarina Ng

Just launched at the Musikmesse in Frankfurt by Swedish start-up the DeVillain Guitar Company, the Centerfold guitar solves a problem that every guitarist has experienced: portability. The folding guitar is a patent-pending product developed by an airline pilot who's also a fervent guitarist. Having a hard time taking his guitar with him everywhere he went, Fredrik Johansson started working on a prototype for the instrument that's now being brought to market.

The guitars, which are handmade in Sweden, slip into a small backpack which will have no trouble fitting into an overhead luggage bin. The neck folds down with strings still attached, and if it's in tune when you fold it, it will be in tune when you unfold it. The neck and body are connected with an airplane aluminium bolt that ensures maximal connection. Lefty versions aren't currently available, and DeVillain will only produce 300 guitars this year, for a direct to consumer price of EUR 2,600 or USD 3,370. A folding electric bass is in the works.

Since the electric guitar is one of the world's most popular instruments, the potential market for DeVillain's highly innovative product is substantial. Time to snap up local distribution rights? And how about some inflatable drums? ;-)

Website: www.devillain.com
Contact: info@devillain.com

Publisher: springwise
Springwise is a new business intelligence firm, publishing reports and newsletters dedicated to new business ideas and business opportunities on a global scale.
Springwise also collaborates with sister-publication trendwatching.com, a leading trend spotting firm.
Web: www.springwise.com
Published: march 2007
Market: mens womens childrens
Region: usa
Industry: apparel accessories

DISCLAIMER
Information in this report relies on sources including Trade Shows, Associations, News Releases, Government Reports and other public sources. Infomat can accept no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such information or for loss or damage caused by any use thereof.