About wildbrine®
We are intensely committed to every step of wildbrine’s creation and production process, from fermenting vegetables to using organic produce to answering every customer’s question.
One of our founders, Rick, was “chief mentor” for teens at the Ceres Community Project, a local nonprofit whose mission is to restore locally grown, organic whole food to its place as the foundation of health for people, communities, and the planet. Rick’s role was to help develop large quantities of naturally fermented kraut for the organization’s client base of cancer patients. The krauts were a hit, so much so that Rick and Chris (his business partner), helped Ceres sell the products to a few local stores as a way to raise funds for Ceres.
When the success of the natural krauts grew beyond the scope of the Ceres mission, the executive director asked if we wanted to take over the kraut business. We said yes. In 2011, with the two original kraut recipes (Arame & Ginger and Garlic & Dill), and placement in a few local stores, we evolved into wildbrine®.
Since 2011, we’ve been experimenting with fermented vegetables passionately. We’ve grown from the two original flavors to seven unique krauts, each boasting its own brightness, three bold kimchi flavors, two spicy srirachas, two delightfully unique fermented salsas, and now our plant-based creamery, boasting four dips, sour cream, cream cheese, and butters. Our business has grown too, and we know that if we continue to do the right thing – take good care of our customers, employees, suppliers, and community – wildbrine will naturally thrive. We are excited to continue exploring our wild possibilities.
Fermentation
We love what fermentation does to food. The process elevates the flavor of produce and brings their nutrient and probiotic power to life. We focus on bringing out the best flavor of our fermented vegetables, while still staying true to the wholeness of each ingredient. Our favorite part is spending hours in our kitchen playing with different vegetable and spice combinations until we get it just right.
Of course, the fermentation process happens under our watchful eye. We monitor our batches of krauts, kimchis, and salsas carefully and on a daily basis. Once everything is tart, tasty, and ready, our team hand packs our containers—then wildbrine® is off to the stores and you. That’s it!
Why wildCREAMERY?
We call ourselves a creamery because all products that are sold under the wildCREAMERY label are plant-based alternatives to products you traditionally associate with a dairy creamery. We call ourselves wild because all products in the wildCREAMERY line are cultured (flavored) with cultures we produce ourselves via wild fermentation.
These proprietary cultures leverage our fermentation expertise to tailor the flavor of each culture to the specific plant-based dairy alternative product, like butter, cream cheese, and dips. We do not use any off-the-shelf lab cultures made by food science labs, as many other companies do. To our knowledge, no one else is vertically integrated like we are to do this. Generally speaking, the cultures that flavor DAIRY butter and many cheeses are in the lactobacillus genus. The cultures we produce are the same lactobacillus genus, just developed on vegan substrates (vegetables) as opposed to dairy substrates. The main flavor component of our cultures (lactic acid) is the same main flavor component in dairy cultures (again lactic acid).
Farm to Table, Table to Farm
By the way, we make every effort to use all edible parts of our vegetables—but what we can’t use, we give away to local farmers to feed their animals. These cows, goats and chickens are arguably our most enthusiastic supporters…or at least the loudest.
Happy brining,
Chris and Rick
