
He learned brand-building in the ice-cream aisle, helped take a protein company to a $1 billion sale, and now runs Califia Farms with a deceptively simple rule: inherit the past, then build for what comes next.
PlantBaby is a Hawaii-born, San Francisco-linked plant-based nutrition company founded by husband-and-wife team Alex and Lauren Abelin. Its flagship brand, Kiki Milk, is billed as the first organic, clean-label plant milk designed specifically for children - built from whole-food ingredients like oats, sprouted pumpkin and hemp seeds, and Aquamin marine calcium, with no gums, seed oils, refined sugars, or synthetic additives. Formulated with a pediatrician and nutritionist and triple-toxin tested for mold, heavy metals, and pesticides, PlantBaby sells direct-to-consumer and through retailers including Sprouts, Wegmans, Erewhon, Amazon, and Thrive Market. The company has raised roughly $7 million and reached a $20 million valuation on a mission to nourish, inform, and empower the next generation while backing regenerative agriculture.