Zoi Maroudas-Tziolas is the founder and the CEO of the company Bambinos Baby Food which provides frozen food for babies. She makes organic fresh frozen meals for babies and toddlers, without additives, preservatives or GMOs. The foods are also kosher, and there are gluten-free and vegetarian selections available.
Her family moved to Alaska in the ’80s from the Greek island Zakynthos when she was 4 years old. “Like every ambitious immigrant, my parents wanted to create opportunities for their children,” she said.
Maroudas-Tziolas grew up cooking with her family and working in the restaurant — her earliest lessons were taught through food. She studied Geriatrics and Oncology at Baylor University in Texas. When she moved back to Alaska she found a different way to help people with her medical and culinary skills.
In 2013, at the kitchen of her family’s restaurant “Pizza Olympia”, she started Bambino’s Baby Food in order to make nutritious and tasty food for babies. The idea behind creating meals with vegetable and seafood bases is to help parents introduce kids to naturally savory foods from a young age, before they are introduced to processed sugar and table salt. Working with local farmers and sourcing Alaska seafood, she’s created a line of food baby food aimed at delivering the most nutrients possible without sacrificing flavor. Designed for children ages 4 months and older, Maroudas-Tziolas works closely with pediatricians and allergists to develop her recipes.
“If you put ingredients in at the proper time you can create that salty-sweet naturally where it entices children to want to eat it and keep them on the healthy lifestyle,” Maroudas said.
“Bambinos’ Baby Food line, including Yummy Yams, Googly Carrots, Hungry Munchkin, Salmon Basket and Happy Peas, is formulated to be nutritionally balanced and to introduce babies to a variety of vegetables, grains, fish, and peanuts during their first year of life”, she added.
“The vegetables we use are farmed just for Bambinos Baby Food by certified Alaskan Organic farms, the ingredients are added to the cook pot at precise intervals during the process to retain maximum nutrients and vitamins”, she said.
Then the food is placed in star-shaped molds and flash frozen, which results in meals with seven to ten times the nutrients of typical grocery store baby food.
Bambinos’ Baby Food sells three to four thousand units per month through its website and at New Sagaya grocery stores in Anchorage, and, in the summer, at Anchorage’s Southside Market and at Shell gas stations in Soldotna, Kenai, Nikiski, and Homer.
https://www.ellines.com/en/achievements/31441-makes-organic-fresh-frozen-baby-food-in-alaska/