Grow with Iris

The revolutionary plant-based, fortified, free from growing up drink, the first of it’s kind in the U.K, our pea protein blend is designed to support the nutritional needs of young children aged 1- 4 and tailored to support kids with food allergies, intolerances or who choose to live a plant-based lifestyle. Founded back in 2018 by Amy, allergy Mum to Iris and her school friend of over 30 years Sophie Paynter (now also an allergy Mum) and developed alongside paediatricians and dietitians. Grow with Iris is on a mission to change the world one sippy cup at a time by offering choice to more children when it comes to nutrition! Officially free from milk, lactose, gluten, egg, soya, tree nuts & peanuts and does not use any of the top 14 ingredients.

Grow With Iris was looking for an experienced technical manager to run a grant-funded Innovate UK R&D project, where multiple parties are involved in a knowledge gathering exercise to identify suitable non-animal protein sources for use in infant formula and the necessary regulatory authorisation requirements in the UK and EU.

SPG Technical input: Commercial and technical review of potential ingredients
Manage partners to ensure knowledge sharing to relevant stakeholders
Innovate UK administration and project management
Co-ordination and delegation of key tasks for the Critical Review Workshop.
Support internal team deliver project

Grow with Iris:
SPG has been supporting us with our third Innovate UK project, the ‘Biomedical Catalyst’ award. We are seeking the ultimate plant-based protein for use in infant formula, research includes a literature review, regulatory review and roadmap as well as a potential human clinical trial design and industry professional workshop to discuss our outcomes and plan the next stage of R&D to underststand the next steps towards producing the UK’s first plant-based and allergy free infant formula . SPG have a wealth of knowledge and understanding through their expertise and research projects exploring plant-based proteins for other uses. They are managing the project and supporting Plant Powered Babies Ltd to ensure we maximise the opportunity.

Quote: ‘SPG are the whole package. They understand the complexities of innovation from both a scientific and practical perspective. Professional, hardworking, and patient, they have shown the ability to pivot and bend as the project has evolved. Most importantly they are easy to work with, have great communication skills and an excellent sense of humour. We hope to collaborate with them again.’