A cut above the rest
Imported ingredients and a focus on cleanliness represent the business philosophy behind a new baby food business serving Hong Kong families
Amy Ward takes a clean chopping board - colour coded green for fruit and vegetables - and starts slicing the skin of a freshly imported butternut squash. "Whoops, I need to wash my hands," she exclaims in an aberrant oversight. Her kitchen is spotless.
"When the health inspector visited he said this was 'the cleanest food factory I have ever been in'," said the 32-year-old American expatriate.
By Ward's admission, her hygiene standards are "past high" and it took 40 interviews before she found a kitchen manager who shared her attention to cleanliness. Every 30 minutes a buzzer sounds in her rented Kwun Tong industrial unit to signal it is time to wash the utensils.
It was partly this desire for properly prepared meals that inspired Ward to team up with Priscilla Soligo, a local food nutrition consultant, to launch Homemade Foods earlier this year. In a first for a city that panders to every whim, the company sells freshly made organic baby food delivered to your door.
"I love to encourage parents to cook with their kids but not with a crying baby clinging to their legs," said Ward.
A professional cook raised in her parents' bakery store in Dallas, Texas, Ward wants to take some of the stress out of raising infants. She also wants to build a successful business.