Research has shown that most peanut allergies can be prevented with early and regular peanut consumption, starting in infancy. But parents seeking to follow the latest pediatric recommendations were running into a big challenge: nuts and nut butters are choking hazards for babies, and the baby industry is nearly entirely nut-free.
Mission MightyMe solved the problem with its game-changing Nutty Puffs: the first and only pediatrician-developed nut butter puffs made with peanuts and multiple tree nuts in the right quantities, making it simple (and delicious) for parents to include a wide variety of nuts in their children’s diets early and often.
Catherine and JJ Jaxon, the husband-wife duo and social impact entrepreneurs behind the company, are food allergy parents and longtime Buckhead residents. When the Jaxons realized the products they were looking for didn’t exist, they partnered with the doctor whose research transformed feeding guidelines globally, Dr. Gideon Lack. Together they developed a functional alternative to traditional baby puffs and kids’ snacks that pull double duty. They’re more than 50% nuts, made with organic, non-GMO ingredients, no cane sugar and have all been awarded the Clean Label Project Purity Award.
Now, nearly four years after launch, they’ve built a large and loyal community of e-commerce customers through MissionMightyMe.com and Amazon. Hot off the heels of a $2.35 million capital raise earlier this year, Mission MightyMe launched in nearly 200 Target stores nationwide (including 6 in the Atlanta area!) in August. The Jaxon family’s local roots are strong. Catherine grew up in Buckhead and moved back to Atlanta with JJ in 2012 to raise their family here after spending 15 years in New York City. Their three kids attend Lovett, Westminster and The Atlanta Speech School –and the family loves the sense of community they’ve built over the years. As a former investment banker and CNN senior producer/journalist, respectively, JJ and Catherine made total career pivots to run Mission MightyMe full-time. To date, they’ve donated more than 20,000 puff pouches to research and to organizations around the country serving families and children in need.
“We try to set an example for our children that you can do well and do good, which is very much our goal with Mission MightyMe,” says JJ. “By making Nutty Puffs a pantry stable, we believe we can have a transformative impact on children’s health.”