Mum launches ‘Meals for Toddlers’ food delivery service with two-year-old son as chief taster

A young mum who was made redundant during the pandemic has launched a food delivery service for young children, appointing her two-year-old son as the Chief Taster.

Flora Campbell, 28, creates all the recipes for Pots for Tots with a professional chef, but will never send out a meal without son Toby’s seal of approval. To date he has only rejected one dish — a chilli con carne that was “too spiky” (spicy).

Pots for Tots delivers homemade meals for toddlers and young children to help parents who don’t have time to cook healthy nutritious meals for their little ones.

These meals have been a great hit with Dani Dyer’s son Santiago, Binky Felstead’s daughter India and Vogue Williams' son Theodore.

They aim to liberate parents while also making sure every child gets the nutrients they need to grow up on a healthy diet. Every meal includes four or five different vegetables and the meat they use is always free-range, organic and sourced from the local butcher.

The meals are suitable for children from eight months to six years old. There is a range of meat, fish and vegetarian options to support a balanced diet. Meals include traditional dishes such as cottage pie, chicken fricassee and seasonal risotto.

All the packaging is sustainable. The pots are made from kraft paper, the ingredients are printed on recycled card, and the cardboard boxes are insulated using recycled denim liners.

Flora Campbell, Founder of Pots for Tots commented: “Not all parents have the time or the energy to cook for their child every night, and others just don’t like cooking!

"Our pots are here to liberate parents from meal times, and make the lives of mums and dads more convenient and less stressful.

“As a mum, I know the guilt you feel when you end up giving your child plain pasta for dinner three nights running. However, I also know the elation you feel when you give them homemade nutritious meals every night of the week.

“Supermarkets have very few options for parents who want high quality, nutritious, ready-made meals that young children will actually eat, and we are here to fill this gap.”

Story behind the Product

The business has been set up by Flora Campbell, who struggled to balance a full-time job with spending quality time with her son Toby at home. She found it difficult to make sure she was cooking something delicious for him every night.

With limited time on her hands the creativity and sometimes the nutrition was lost. Flora looked for places to order homemade healthy meals to her door, but with nothing cost-effective or nutritious available, she took things into her own hands.

When Flora was made redundant by her city PR firm last year she knew it was a now or never situation. Toby, who is now nearly two years old, is the Chief Taster for Pots for Tots, and he gives clear feedback on every meal!

Flora started the business from her flat in Balham cooking and delivering all the meals herself, and at one point she had 4 freezers stacked up in her son’s bedroom to store the pots.