The Wild Story of Wildbrine

When you envision the story behind a sauerkraut company, you probably go all the way back to Eastern Europe, using some sort of family recipe that has been passed down for hundreds of years. There's no reason to go that far, though, especially since one charity in the San Francisco region crafted a sauerkraut that is raw, organic, and totally unique!

What makes Wildbrine special?

Rick and Chris, the two founders of the Wildbrine brand, got their start working at a San Francisco nonprofit called the Ceres Community Project. Ceres' mission is "to restore locally grown, organic whole food as the foundation of health for people and the planet". Rick’s role was to help develop large quantities of naturally fermented sauerkraut for cancer patients, one of the organization’s client base. The sauerkrauts were such a hit that Rick and Chris worked with Ceres sell the products to a few local stores as a way to raise funds. It took off from their, and it became its own company in 2011. Wildbrine is now far beyond their California roots, but it still works to support the organization that was integral to their foundation!

All this goes to show that Wildbrine isn’t your ordinary sauerkraut company. They’ve come a long way by providing good, healthy food to customers and their community! But how do they do it?

The Wildbrine way

The Wildbrine process is designed to create a unique flavour while bringing out the nutrient and probiotic power of the fresh, raw produce they use. This means taking an old-school, hands-on approach to food preparation: chopping the Napa cabbage, hand peeling the ginger, finely chopping the beets, and grating the horseradish root themselves. This is done to make sure that everything going into the product is as fresh as possible.

The ingredients are fermented to provide a comfy environment for the naturally occurring probiotic microorganisms. The lactic acid created preserves the vegetables, creates eye-popping flavors, and produces a sauerkraut and brine that’s swimming with important probiotics.

Why fermented foods?

Fermented foods like sauerkraut are incredibly important for gut health. We are often lacking in naturally probiotic-rich foods in our diet, and this can impact the health of the bacteria in our gut. Good gut bacteria kills harmful pathogens, processes foods to create nutrients, and strengthens the physical condition of  your gastrointestinal tract.

Fermented foods also add a lot of variety to your diet! We can get stuck on certain foods, often out of habit, but just as often because we've cultivated a bacterial culture that craves processed sugars, starches, and unhealthy fats. You can easily find an organic, raw variety to break this cycle by choosing Wildbrine. Their lineup started with two flavours of sauerkraut, Arame & Ginger and Garlic & Dill, but grew to nine while adding three kinds of kimchi!

With incredibly delicious and healthy foods like Wildbrine, there's no reason not to get more fermented foods in your diet.