Groupe Danone purchased Happy Family brands for its expertise in organic baby food, for sure. But another, less-appreciated target in the transaction announced today was the American startup's command of the mommy-blogger market.

Happy Family and its parent Nurture "are very linked to moms," Agnes Danthonay, spokeswoman for the Paris-based parent of Dannon USA and the world's largest yogurt maker, told brandchannel. ''They have the biggest network of [mommy bloggers] within the United States, and that's something we really looked at: How can we better use social networks to gain proximity with consumers?"

Danone signed a deal for a 92 percent stake in Happy Family mainly because of its strong position as one of the originators of mainstream organic baby food in the US market. Happy Family nearly quadrupled its revenues over the last three years, to $62 million last year, in part by extending its product line and brands to include squeezable pouches of fruit purees that are even meant for adults.Continue reading...

It's hard to resist a brand that has the word "happy" in it. And so Happy Family, a leading organic brand of "superfoods," has earned the title of "Rockstar of the New Economy" from Fast Company magazine and B Lab, a nonprofit that promotes social and environmental responsibility by companies.

There was a lot more that earned the designation for Happy Family, which already was named Inc. magazine's fastest-growing packaged-food company of 2011. In five years, the New York-based company has skyrocketed to $35 million in sales from practically nothing, and CEO Shazi Visram is looking at doubling revenues for the second year in a row in 2012.

Happy Family boasts a big range of products aimed right at the worry spot for American moms: how to get their young children to want to eat healthy snacks. The company's product line ranges from pouches of fruit puree for babies to organic grain-snack "puffs" for toddlers to frozen mac-and-cheese balls and Salmon Stix for grade-schoolers. It's planning an additional 10 new products before the end of the year.Continue reading...