Yorkshire mum-of-two leaves ASDA accountant role to follow dream and create frozen toddler food business

Hanna Dilley - a mum of two young boys aged three and five - was born and raised in York.

Having lived around the UK, she settled in Harrogate eight years ago.

Hanna's career background is in finance - with her most recent job at ASDA Head Office in Leeds.

However, while she was away from work on her second maternity, Hanna decided to pursue her dream of launching her own toddler food business.

Hanna has now launched Benji’s Bites - a frozen toddler food company.

The food is frozen separately in small 30g cubes, so parents can choose both the meal combination and portion size.

At least 75 per cent of the range is also suitable for a plant based or vegan diet, Hanna told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

She is now starting to see a surge in her fledgling business, despite the pressures of lockdown.

Hanna said: "I had a pretty good understanding of food businesses but being an accountant by trade, I’ve definitely had to learn a lot of new skills on this journey.

"It’s hard work but I wouldn’t change it for the world!"

Hanna told the YEP that the idea for her business came after having her second child, who was "quite difficult as a baby".

She continued: "In the newborn sleep deprived stage, I still had a two year old to entertain and feed so I started batch cooking and freezing food for him…but in a Benji’s Bites way.

"I thought if it was helping me, then it could help other parents too."

Hanna then spent over a year working on her idea, developing and testing recipes and working with dietitians.

There are six ‘mains, four ‘carbs’ and two ‘veggie sides’ available to mix and match - a possible 48 meal combinations

She added: "As it is categorised as infant food, there is a lot of legislation that needs to be adhered to so I couldn’t just rock up to Farmer’s Markets and test it out.

"I’d planned to launch in Spring 2020 and was pretty much on track to launch after our family holiday in Costa Rica.

"Whilst we were there, lockdown hit and we nearly didn’t make it home.

"I suddenly had two small boys at home with me so I did a soft launch, just delivering locally to start with (Harrogate, York & Leeds).

"It was pretty tough and there were lots of 5am cooking sessions."

Hanna uses her council approved kitchen as a base for my business.

Despite the difficulties during lockdown, she has now been able to start offering a courier service.

Hanna now hopes her business will continue to grow.

She said: "I’ve had really good feedback so far and a lot of repeat customers which is the best thing you could wish for when you’ve got a small business."