People are obsessed with celebrity brands. It’s just a fact of the modern market. But when you mix Hollywood star power with organic baby food and a high-growth cold-chain logistics model, the conversation inevitably shifts from "Is this healthy?" to "When can I buy the stock?"
The Once Upon a Farm IPO has been a whispers-only topic in venture capital circles for years.
Honestly, it’s easy to see why. The company, co-founded by Jennifer Garner, John Foraker, Cassandra Curtis, and Ari Raz, has managed to do something incredibly difficult: they made the refrigerator aisle the place to buy baby food. Before they came along, most of us were buying shelf-stable jars that had been heat-treated into a brownish mush. By using High Pressure Processing (HPP), they kept the nutrients intact and the colors bright. Parents loved it. Investors loved it more.
But here is the reality check. As of early 2026, Once Upon a Farm remains a private company.
They haven't filed an S-1 with the SEC. They haven't set a date. While the "IPO window" for consumer packaged goods (CPG) fluctuates based on interest rates and market volatility, the company has stayed focused on expansion rather than a public exit. That doesn't mean it isn't coming. It just means they are being smart about it.
The Foraker Factor and the Path to Public Markets
To understand the Once Upon a Farm IPO potential, you have to look at John Foraker. He’s the CEO. He’s also the guy who built Annie’s Homegrown. He took Annie’s public in 2012 in an incredibly successful IPO before eventually selling it to General Mills for about $820 million in 2014.
Foraker knows the playbook. He knows that to go public, a company needs more than just a famous face like Garner’s. It needs a massive "moat."
Once Upon a Farm’s moat is their cold-chain distribution. Most baby food companies are fighting for space in the middle of the grocery store. Once Upon a Farm is fighting for the fridge. That’s premium real estate. They have expanded from simple pouches into "big kid" snacks, frozen meals, and dairy-free smoothies. Basically, they are trying to own the entire childhood nutrition lifecycle.
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Revenue growth is the engine. While they don't publicly disclose exact quarterly earnings like a public firm would, industry estimates and funding round valuations suggest they’ve been scaling at a clip that makes investment bankers salivate. In 2022, they raised $52 million in a Series D led by CAVU Consumer Partners. That brought their total funding to over $100 million.
Why the Market is Hungry for a Healthy Exit
Why do people care about a Once Upon a Farm IPO so much?
It’s about the "better-for-you" trend. Consumers are tired of ultra-processed foods.
Look at companies like Vital Farms or even the acquisition of Kevin’s Natural Foods. There is a massive premium on brands that promise clean labels. Once Upon a Farm fits that perfectly. They are a Certified B Corp. They advocate for the WIC program (Women, Infants, and Children) to include organic options. They have a social mission that resonates with Gen Z and Millennial parents who are now the primary spenders in this category.
If they go public, they wouldn't just be a baby food stock. They’d be a "lifestyle platform" stock.
However, being public is a grind. You have to answer to shareholders every 90 days. For a company that relies on fresh ingredients and complex supply chains, that pressure can be brutal. If a crop fails or a shipping line freezes, the stock price craters.
The Challenges of Scaling Freshness
You can't talk about a Once Upon a Farm IPO without talking about the risks.
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- The Cold Chain Cost: Shipping refrigerated products is expensive. Period. If fuel prices spike, margins thin out.
- Competition: Big players like Gerber and Beech-Nut aren't just sitting there. They’ve launched their own refrigerated lines. Even private labels (store brands) are getting better at the "organic pouch" game.
- The Birth Rate Problem: This is the elephant in the room. Birth rates in the U.S. and Europe are declining. If there are fewer babies, the total addressable market (TAM) shrinks.
This is why you see the brand moving into snacks for older kids. They have to. They need to keep the customer for ten years, not two. If they can prove they can transition a baby from a 6-month-old pouch to a 7-year-old school lunch snack, the IPO valuation doubles.
The Jennifer Garner Effect: More Than a Spokesperson
Usually, celebrity brands are kind of a scam. A star slaps their name on a tequila bottle and walks away with a check.
Garner is different.
She’s the Chief Brand Officer. She’s at the farm. she’s in the test kitchen. Most importantly, she’s the one doing the "organic" marketing on Instagram and TikTok that feels authentic to parents. When she talks about the Once Upon a Farm IPO—or rather, the company’s growth—she’s talking about her family’s farm in Oklahoma.
This creates "brand equity" that is hard to quantify on a balance sheet but vital for an IPO. It lowers the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). Why spend $20 million on Super Bowl ads when Garner can post a video of herself making a smoothie that reaches millions for free?
What to Expect if They Actually Pull the Trigger
If and when the Once Upon a Farm IPO happens, expect it to be a bellwether for the entire CPG industry.
The valuation would likely be a multiple of revenue, probably in the 4x to 6x range, depending on how "tech-like" their subscription growth looks. They have a direct-to-consumer (DTC) wing that is growing. Subscription revenue is the "holy grail" for IPOs because it's predictable.
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Investors will be looking for:
- EBITDA Margins: Are they actually making money, or just burning cash to buy shelf space?
- Retention Rates: Do parents stay with the brand after the first year?
- International Expansion: Can this work in London or Tokyo?
Right now, the company is still in "build mode." They recently acquired a company called Little Spoon? No, wait—they are actually competitors with Little Spoon. They are focused on internal R&D and expanding their "Plant-Rich Meals" line. This diversification is the final bridge they need to cross before a public listing makes sense.
Navigating the Pre-IPO Noise
You’ll see a lot of websites claiming you can buy "pre-IPO shares" of Once Upon a Farm.
Be careful.
Secondary markets like Forge Global or EquityZen sometimes have shares available from former employees or early investors. But these are illiquid. You can't just sell them on your Robinhood app the next day. For the average retail investor, the best move is to watch the SEC Edgar database for that "S-1" filing.
Once that document is public, you get to see the real numbers. You see the debt. You see how much Jennifer Garner actually owns. You see the risks they are legally required to disclose.
Actionable Steps for Interested Investors
If you’re tracking this brand for a potential investment, stop looking at the celebrity news and start looking at the grocery shelf.
- Monitor Shelf Space: Next time you’re at Target or Whole Foods, look at the fridge. Is Once Upon a Farm expanding? Are they getting "top eye level" placement? This is the most honest indicator of health for a CPG brand.
- Track the Founders: Follow John Foraker on LinkedIn. He is remarkably transparent about the challenges of the organic industry. When he starts talking more about "governance" and "long-term capital structures," a public exit is likely nearing.
- Check the Competition: Keep an eye on the "Fresh" category at large. If other refrigerated snack brands start going public or getting acquired for massive multiples, Once Upon a Farm will likely follow suit to capitalize on the hype.
- Analyze the Product Mix: The move into "Meals" is huge. Pouches are a commodity. Meals are a habit. If the meal line takes off, the company's valuation floor rises significantly.
The Once Upon a Farm IPO isn't just about baby food; it's a test case for whether a mission-driven, celebrity-backed, cold-chain business can survive the scrutiny of Wall Street. It’s a bold bet on the idea that parents will always pay a premium for "better." For now, it remains a private powerhouse, but the ingredients for a massive public debut are all sitting on the counter, waiting to be mixed.