Babies Mean Business

Alumna Aly (Case) Akina, right, is putting her merchandising education to work as co-founder of Healthy Baby Hawai‘i, which makes baby and toddler foods with local and organic produce. Akina, a graduate of CTAHR’s Fashion Design and Merchandising program met company partner Nicole Dodson while working in the food industry. They got the idea for the business after becoming mothers about the same time.
“We thought, ‘How awesome would it be if there were a healthier, fresher alternative to processed store-bought baby foods?’” she writes. “And here we are” — the state’s first home grown baby food company. Healthy Baby Hawai‘i sells out of the Kailua Town Farmer’s Market and delivers orders to buyers homes.