Once Upon A Farm: Buy the $1B Growth Story?

On Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) welcomed a new ticker that is already shaking up the consumer staples sector. Once Upon A Farm (NYSE: OFRM), a company known for disrupting the baby food aisle with cold-pressed organic pouches, priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $18 per share. By the following Monday, the stock had risen to trade near $21.14, representing a gain of approximately 17%.

This successful debut does more than just reward early investors; it sends a signal to the broader market. After a period where Wall Street hesitated to embrace new listings, the reception of Once Upon a Farm (OFRM) suggests a shift in sentiment.

Investors appear willing to pay a premium for companies that offer tangible products, strong brand equity, and verifiable volume growth.

With approximately $198 million raised to fund expansion and pay down debt, and a market capitalization hovering between $845 million and $1 billion, Once Upon A Farm has successfully defied the IPO freeze narrative. The market is clearly hungry for high-growth consumer assets that can demonstrate pricing power in a competitive environment. But behind the celebrity headlines and the opening bell excitement, does the business model justify the valuation?

Why OFRM Trades Like a Tech Stock

The primary driver of the bullish sentiment surrounding OFRM is its financial profile, which more closely resembles that of a technology company than a food manufacturer. While legacy food brands often struggle to achieve single-digit growth, OFRM is expanding at a pace rarely seen in the grocery aisle.

Here is a breakdown of the key metrics driving investor confidence:

• Revenue Velocity: In the last twelve months ending June 30, 2025, the company reported net sales of nearly $202 million.
• Compound Growth: The company boasts a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 64.6% from 2018 through 2025. This velocity suggests the brand is actively taking market share from legacy competitors.
• Healthy Margins: Despite global inflation, gross margins have held strong between 40% and 44%. This proves parents are willing to pay a premium for clean-label nutrition, insulating the company from price wars.

A unique component of this financial engine is Jennifer Garner, Co-Founder and Chief Brand Officer. While celebrity endorsements are common, Garner’s active operational role creates a tangible financial asset. Her involvement drives organic media impressions and creates sticky customer loyalty, evidenced by a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 47, exceptionally high for the grocery sector.

Financially, this translates to marketing efficiency. The halo effect lowers Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC), allowing the company to direct capital toward product quality and supply chain improvements rather than burning cash on traditional customer acquisition ads.

The Frozen Fortress: Keeping Rivals Out

In the consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector, the biggest risk is often the sea of sameness, endless shelves of identical jars and boxes. Once Upon A Farm has mitigated this risk by building a physical barrier to entry: the Cold Chain. Instead of fighting for space on dusty shelves, the company has deployed over 2,800 proprietary, branded coolers at major retailers.

This strategy changes the geometry of the retail aisle. By owning the cooler's physical real estate, the company ensures its products are displayed prominently and at the correct temperature. The data supports the heavy investment in this infrastructure:

• Incrementality: These coolers drive approximately 61% incremental growth to the baby food category for retailers, giving stores a financial incentive to keep OFRM front and center.
• Productivity: Each cooler generates an annual run-rate of approximately $10,500 in retail sales.

For a competitor to challenge this position, they would need to not only replicate the complex refrigerated supply chain but also convince retailers to give up valuable floor space for a second set of coolers. This physical infrastructure creates a defensive moat that is difficult and expensive for rivals to cross, justifying a premium valuation for the stock compared to shelf-stable peers.

Strategic Cash Burn: Funding the Future

While the top-line growth is impressive, investors will note that the company is not yet profitable. The Last Twelve Months (LTM) Net Loss stands at approximately $48.1 million. However, in the context of a high-growth CPG company, it is vital to analyze the nature of this cash burn. The losses are not stemming from broken unit economics or low margins. Instead, the cash is being allocated to calculated capital expenditures to expand the total addressable market (TAM).

The use of proceeds from the IPO highlights this strategy. A significant portion of the capital is earmarked for upfront slotting fees to place more coolers in stores and for research and development. The company is actively moving beyond the baby aisle to serve older children, creating new revenue streams that will eventually offset these costs.

Recent strategic moves include:

• Product Expansion: Launching big kid products like Soft-Baked Bars and Refrigerated Protein Bars (January 2025). This extends the customer lifecycle from a distinct 18-month window (baby food) to a potential 12-year relationship (school lunches).
• International Growth: The company is using its capital to fund a UK market entry scheduled for March 2026.

The current net losses represent the price of acquiring long-term market share and establishing a global footprint. As the company expands its existing distribution network to over 20,000 doors, sales volumes are expected to eventually outpace these fixed costs, creating operating leverage.

Watching Once Upon a Farm Grow Up 

Once Upon A Farm offers retail investors a rare hybrid profile: the defensive characteristics of a consumer food stock combined with the growth trajectory typically associated with the technology sector. While the current valuation trades at a high multiple of sales compared to legacy food giants, the premium appears justified by the company's verified growth metrics and physical infrastructure advantages.

The successful IPO and the subsequent 17% price increase confirm that the market is confident in the company's strategy. By leveraging its cold-chain moat and expanding into new product categories and geographies, OFRM is building a durable business with a long runway for growth. For growth-oriented investors, the company represents a compelling opportunity to buy into a category leader during its early stages of public price discovery.

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The article "Once Upon A Farm: Buy the $1B Growth Story?" first appeared on MarketBeat.