‘Protect your dream’, says LittleOak infant formula founder

afr.com:

Elke Pascoe, founder and chief executive of infant formula group LittleOak Company, says it’s crucial that budding entrepreneurs let criticism bounce off them, and have the ability to “fiercely protect your dream”.

LittleOak, a New Zealand goat milk infant formula group backed by private equity fund Parc Capital, generated revenue growth of 116 per cent in 2022-23, after a strong showing the previous year when it delivered growth of 133 per cent.

The company is the winner of the manufacturing and consumer goods category of the AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies awards.

About 60 per cent of sales come from online, the remainder from bricks and mortar outlets including Ritchies, HealthyLife, Scoop Wholefoods, Drakes and GoVita.

Pascoe established LittleOak in 2016 when she was living in Singapore.

She acknowledges there is still a way to go to fully harness LittleOak’s growth, but looking back over the past seven years she is a passionate believer that optimism and enthusiasm can always find a way.

Elke Pascoe, the founder and CEO of LittleOak, a goat’s milk infant formula company. 

“Most importantly, fiercely protect your dream,” she says.

“If you truly believe in what you are trying to achieve, don’t let anybody knock your confidence. And that also means never take no for an answer,” Pascoe says.

“There is always a way to achieve something if you ask the right questions and look creatively for solutions. But always be kind and curious in doing so.”

Pascoe says the United States is a growth market, with consumers attracted by “clean and green” brands.

Last year there was an industry-wide shortage of infant formula following a contamination scare at a plant in Michigan operated by Abbott Laboratories, with consumers