"Good food is an act of care." A conversation with Daniel Yordanov from Herr Bebe.

In our blog today we meet you with Daniel Yordanov – Partner at Herr Bebe, with whom we have been pursuing a very important mission together for over six years—the constant striving for perfection in the food we give our children.

Herr Bebe is the first and largest children's kitchen serving children aged 7 months to 7 years. Today, the company is backed by its own production and logistics facilities and a team of 55 people, some of whom have been with the company for over 20 years.

But behind this scale lies something far more important—the understanding that when you prepare food for a child, you are not simply manufacturing a product. You are sharing in the responsibility of caring for what a parent holds most dear.

Daniel and I talk about what remains unseen behind every children's meal—the choice of ingredients, consistency in quality, parental trust, supplier responsibility, and why, when it comes to children's food, "good enough" is never enough.

Dani, you have been part of Herr Bebe since 2008. How did your personal journey with the children's kitchen begin, and how has it evolved over the years?

My journey with Herr Bebe began back in 2008, and looking back, I realize just how much we have grown together. In the beginning, everything was on a much smaller scale. We knew almost every parent, every order, and many of the children we cooked for. Over time, Herr Bebe evolved—our family of customers grew, processes became more complex, and technology changed—but one thing remained exactly the same: our attitude toward food. We have never viewed it merely as a product to be manufactured and delivered. When you cook for a child, you know that behind every order stands a parent who has entrusted you with the care of their most precious treasure. Over the years, my own role has evolved as well. I moved gradually from day-to-day operational work to a much broader perspective on the entire organization—covering products, the team, quality control, logistics, menu development, and business scaling. Yet, even today, I believe that what matters most lies in the details: in the choice of an ingredient, the precise recipe, the way the food is prepared, and in never allowing yourself to say, "This is good enough."

What is the philosophy behind Herr Bebe, and what are the principles you would never compromise on?

Our philosophy is very simple: to prepare food with love—food we would confidently serve to our own children. This is the guiding principle we always return to whenever we need to make a decision. We would never compromise on the quality and safety of our ingredients, the methods of storage and preparation, or our standards of hygiene and process control. Another important aspect for us is that children's food should be *real* food—offering taste, aroma, color, and variety. A child needs to gradually discover different foods and develop a relationship with eating, rather than simply consuming a certain number of calories. There is also a principle that has become increasingly important to us over the years: transparency. Parents have the right to know what we are giving their children and why we have chosen these specific products.

What does it mean in practice to prepare food for thousands of children every day? What kind of responsibility does this entail, and how do you maintain consistently high quality at such a scale?

From the outside, one might simply picture a very large kitchen. In reality, however, the preparation of meals for thousands of children involves dozens of interconnected processes that must function with extreme precision. It all begins long before the actual cooking—starting with menu and quantity planning, followed by orders and deliveries, incoming quality control of raw materials, proper storage, preparation, thermal processing, portioning, packaging, and finally, logistics. At this scale, you cannot simply rely on someone "keeping an eye on things." You need a system. We have clear procedures, checkpoints, and individuals who bear specific responsibility at every stage. And the greatest responsibility stems from the fact that our end customer is a child. That is why, for us, a small mistake is never just a "small mistake." Every detail matters. The real challenge during our growth was increasing the number of portions without letting quality be sacrificed for the sake of scale. And I believe that is one of the things we are most proud of.

Parents entrust you with something extremely important—feeding their children. How do you earn that trust, and how do you live up to it every day?

Trust is not earned through a single advertising campaign or a solitary promise; it is earned through repetition and discipline—with one well-prepared portion today, another tomorrow, and yet another a month from now. Parents need to know that when they open a Herr Bebe meal, quality won't be a matter of luck. We strive to live up to that trust through consistency, rigorous quality control, and a very careful selection of the people and partners we work with. Feedback is also incredibly valuable to us. Parents tell us daily what their children enjoy, what they reject, and how they react to new dishes. We listen. Sometimes, a single sentence from a parent can prompt us to rethink a recipe or a process. To me, trust also means being responsible enough to say "no" when you are unsure about a product or decision—regardless of whether it might be easier or more profitable for the business.

How do you choose the products you cook with? What are the most important criteria an ingredient must meet to make it into Herr Bebe’s kitchen?

The quality of the product itself comes first. We then consider its origin, composition, production method, documentation and certifications, consistency across different deliveries, and, of course, the reliability of the supplier. Price is the final criterion when we make choices regarding products and raw materials. It is crucial to us that a product remains consistently high in quality—not only when we test it for the first time but also with every subsequent delivery. When operating at our scale, consistency is an integral part of quality. We also evaluate how the product performs within our specific recipes—assessing its taste, aroma, texture, and behavior during heat treatment. After all, a raw material might look excellent on paper but fail to work well in a children's menu. To make it into the Herr Bebe range, a product must pass both tests: the one on paper and the one in the kitchen.

A children's menu needs to be healthy, balanced, and tasty all at once. How do you strike the right balance between nutritional value and the flavors children actually enjoy?

This is likely one of the most challenging tasks in child nutrition. You can create a perfectly balanced menu on paper, but if the child doesn't eat it, you haven't achieved your goal. On the other hand, you can't simply follow what children like best, because part of our job is to gradually build good eating habits. That is why the balance comes from many small decisions—such as how we combine vegetables. Consider the textures we create and how we utilize the natural flavors of the ingredients. Think about the gradual introduction of new foods and flavor combinations. Children have very sensitive palates; they immediately detect if a flavor is too strong, the dish is too greasy, or the texture is simply unpleasant. That is why, when it comes to cooking for children, "less" can actually mean "more." We do not aim to impress adults with an array of spices; instead, we want the child to recognize the true taste of the vegetables, meat, rice, potatoes, or fruit.

How are new recipes created at Herr Bebe? Who is involved in the process, and where does the inspiration for a new dish most often come from?

A new recipe is almost never the work of just one person. It is a process involving those responsible for nutrition and the menu, the food technology and kitchen teams, as well as colleagues who monitor feedback from parents on a daily basis. Sometimes, inspiration comes from traditional Bulgarian cuisine. At other times, we see a combination that we want to adapt to the needs of the little ones.

And very often, the starting point is a specific seasonal product. Then the testing begins. We adjust proportions, techniques, processing times, and textures. Sometimes, a seemingly simple recipe goes through many variations before we say, "Yes, this can go on the menu." And taste is only one part of it. The recipe must be reproducible on a large scale, day in and day out, while maintaining the same quality.

Has the discovery of a specific, high-quality product ever sparked the creation of a new recipe? Can you give us an example?

Yes, and in fact, this happens more often than one might think. Sometimes you come across a product with such a great natural flavor that you start thinking not about how to "hide" it in a recipe, but rather how to build the recipe around it. High-quality fats are a good example. When we began working with products whose origin, quality, and consistency we could trust, it enabled us to refine a number of recipes. In baby food, the fat content should not overpower the other ingredients; instead, it should bring them together and contribute to both the flavor and the nutritional value. And when you find a product that works this way, it naturally starts finding its way into new recipes as well.

 

Which products from the Olimport portfolio do you work with, and why did you choose them specifically? What gives you the confidence to include them in meals for the youngest ones?

From Olimport’s portfolio, we use products related to a very important part of our formulations—fats.

LATZIMAS extra virgin olive oil from Crete stands out as the leader among all olive oils. For children under the age of three, we use the highly beneficial, pitted Taggiasca olive from Liguria, preserved in extra virgin olive oil. For older children, we vary our recipes by incorporating Kalamata olives, naturally dehydrated olive crumbles, and olive paste.

We chose to work with you because, for us, a supplier is not merely a company from which we purchase a specific raw material; they are part of the chain of trust between us and the parent. For a long-term partnership, several factors are important to us: consistent quality, traceability, reliability, security of supply, and the ability to obtain clear information about the products. When it comes to baby food, we need to be confident not only in today’s specific batch but also that the next delivery will meet the same high standard. That consistency is crucial to us. High-quality raw materials may sometimes go unnoticed by the end consumer, as they see only the finished meal, but we know that the quality of every portion begins right there.

After so many years dedicated to child nutrition, how would you complete the sentence: "Good food is..."?

Good food is an act of care. It is far more than just a recipe and ingredients. When it is for a child, good food represents a responsibility—towards their development, the habits they form, and the trust of their parents. And after so many years at Herr Bebe, I would add one more thing: good food is the kind you are proud to put your name behind—and the kind you would confidently place on the table for your own child.