Wildly Fermented

Your Co-op now stocks locally-made Wildly Fermented products! Find these living, vegan, organic, artisan fermented foods made from locally grown produce in our refrigerated sections. 

Chele Eades’ path to co-creating Wildly Fermented began early. Growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, an area with a strong German culture, Chele was fortunate to have one grandmother who was a fabulous cook and another that “knew the power of Mother Nature,” she says. “I taught my first class on the healing benefits of live food when I was 16 at a chiropractor’s office. I was really just sharing information - I couldn’t imagine people didn’t know about juicing, herbs, etc!” Chele says.

At 30, after a career as an Architectural Designer, Chele decided to feed her passion for natural health and healing. Her studies covered a variety of programs and philosophies related to nutrition: Chele became A Hallelujah Acres Health Minister, a certified Health Coach, and a Living Foods Chef and Instructor. As a personal chef, caterer, and nutrition coach, Chele worked with clinics’ lifestyle programs: doctors would refer patients to Chele, who guided patients through how to prepare nourishing meals at home. Fermented foods were a major component of the program because of their role in (re)balancing gut bacteria and aiding in digestion. “It was actually my son’s idea, to have a packaged product line!” Chele says, “He traveled with me to patients homes, and he kept hearing the patients, say ‘I just want to buy yours’!” Despite Chele’s initial resistance, when her son Ryan packaged their first product, a kraut made according to Chele’s grandmother’s original recipe, to raise money for an 8th grade class trip, “RyKraut” was a hit!

After the success of RyKraut, Chele and Ryan ventured into Farmers’ Markets. “We did a lot of educating on food being medicine and learned a lot about having a food biz in eight years of doing events all over Orange and Los Angeles Counties,” Chele says. Ryan has moved on to a career with the US Navy, while Chele is focusing on expanding into specialty markets throughout California while holding true to Wildly Fermented’s artisan, small batch, medicinal food focus. Wildly Fermented foods are just that: “I still make the products the same way I made them with my Grandma over 40 years ago,” Chele says, “We never use vinegar - these are not pickled, they are fully fermented, in-old fashioned European stone crocks, with no cultures or starters.” 

Whether you try some RyKraut with your pizza or some CurTido (cabbage, carrot, red onion, lime, oregano and red pepper) with your tacos, aim to eat about a quarter cup of fermented food per day. They’re also tasty in salads, in sandwiches, and with your favorite protein! Make sure to get your daily dose of ferments to feed your microbiome by picking up a Wildly Fermented jar the next time you’re in the Co-op!