(FORTUNE Magazine) – David W. Johnson, CEO of Gerber Products, may be the slyest Aussie since Crocodile Dundee. When his 89-year-old mum visited him last year, he tricked her into eating all ten varieties of Gerber's chunky food for toddlers. Mrs. Johnson had trouble chewing her food, so her son put a Gerber jar into the microwave. He served it without telling her what she was eating, adding a few condiments for taste. ''She ate the whole lot!'' Johnson exclaims. Lesson learned: Gerber can make food for adults as well as babies. Johnson, 56, is trying to push the Fremont, Michigan, company up the age ladder. Gerber recently introduced Fruit Classics, applesauce snacks sold in plastic cups, not baby food jars. The snacks are aimed at ''adults on the go.'' Because the Gerber brand name doesn't appear on the package, adults have no reason to be squeamish. Similar products will be available soon. ''In the past we've said babies are our only business,'' Johnson says. ''I have unlocked the door to the nursery.'' Johnson, who spent his own childhood on a sheep and cattle ranch in New South Wales, admits that Gerber's last grab for the adult market in 1974 was ''a classic failure.'' The company put food such as beef Burgundy into baby food jars, and no amount of coercion could get people to eat it. But now Johnson is willing to use totally different packaging, create new brand names, and do everything short of actually spoon-feeding adults until he wins them over. C'mon, honey, open your mouth!