“When you give a child a thirty second rundown of what food paint is, they understand it immediately and cannot wait to get their hands on it. All they hear is, ‘this stuff's fun!’” 

Tomo Delaney (4:42-4:59)

After leaving a 22-year long career in the fashion industry as a photographer and producer, Tomo Delaney became the stay-at-home parent for his two kids. The problem Tomo was facing, like many other parents, was that his kids weren’t interested in food! He remembers taking his then four year old son around local Manhattan grocery stores trying to find anything that would inspire either of his children to actually want to sit at the table and enjoy their meals. 

Tomo told his family friend Pegi about his plight and she sent him an email with a business proposition that entailed presenting food to kids by color (not flavor) and giving them a purpose when they hit the table. Within ten minutes of the meeting, Noshi For Kids food paint was created. They had worked out the colors and flavors and knew that it was extremely important for the products to be organic. 

“When my friend Pegi put this idea in front of me, it was like a million light bulbs going off in my head. I could immediately see what this product should be and what it could become. I immediately knew what the flavor should be, what the colors should be, what the packaging should be and I was amazed nobody had done it before. It all made sense within seconds of the idea being put in front of me.” (20:46-21:09) Tomo Delaney 

So what is Noshi Food Paint exactly? Noshi Food Paint are tubes of “paint” that kids and adults of all ages can enjoy at the kitchen table. What’s ultimately a condiment, the paint set is used to entertain kids and get them to enjoy healthy nutrients. Each tube has a different color and it gives kids a great project to do at the table that’s delicious as well!

Noshi’s Food Paint is completely natural with no artificial flavors, no artificial colors, is USDA Certified Organic, vegan, gluten free, soy free, no-GMO, and free of all the major allergens. The product comes in small paint tubes and has a consistency similar to premade icing, but none of the artificial ingredients! The food paint is made of over 92% individually, quick, frozen fruit (IQF) that’s blended, cooked and pasteurized. The other 8% comes from organic pear juice to balance some of the flavors and a few other ingredients that help the food paint hold its shape on the plate.

As a parent, you may be wondering why you need this product when you already have, for example, maple syrup in your cabinet, or you might be worried about the mess your kid will make.

Tomo’s whole idea with the paint was to give kids a reason to want to come (and stay at) the table. What’s his remedy for kids making a mess and squirting the food all over? We all know kids are desperate to impress us parents, so give your kids a task to complete. Depending on the age of your kid will depend on what task you give them. Maybe your five-year-old gets only one tube of paint and is tasked with spelling words or doing simple math on their piece of toast. Tomo’s daughter, who’s 14-years old, loves to take a few tubes and make pixel art on her waffle for 20 minutes. 

Although it sounds messy, Tomo suggests using the tubes for babies instead of baby food since the food paint is essentially pureed strawberry, or peach, for example, and provides them a sensory experience. Even college age kids might love it!

“It can be a baby food. It can be a teenager food. It could be anything in between!” Tomo Delaney (10:53-10:56)

Noshi For Kids has some powerful brand partnerships with Peppa Pig and, coming soon in June, The Very Hungry Caterpillar which will be a part of a rainbow six-pack of paint. They also have a second fruit set coming out that looks like crayons inside a crayon box as a part of a partnership with Crayola. Most importantly though is Noshi’s work with No Kid Hungry. Noshi For Kids donates to them yearly as much as possible and Tomo’s hope is, as they grow, to keep giving more and more back. 

Grab your family a set of Noshi For Kids Food Paint at www.noshiforkids.com, www.thrivemarket.com and at local Walmart retailers next to the maple syrup. 

How to get involved

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