We are Farmented, but how did we get here?
In 2017 two Vanessa’s were sitting in a class called Farm to Market. Randomly paired together, the Vanessa’s were tasked to create a value added product for their partner farmer out of the produce he grew on his land. Little did they know, that this seemingly simple project would launch them into the wild, wild world of fermentation and through this adventure, create careers and lives they never would have imagined.
My name is Vanessa Williamson and I am one of two Vanessa’s who founded Farmented Foods. Yes, there are two of us. For ease of storytelling, I will use our last names: Walsten and Williamson but I understand this is still confusing. Sorry, but without going through a lot of name-changing legal paperwork (which sounds like no fun) this is as un-confusing as we can make it.
Original prototype of Farmented Foods in 2016 for Farm to Market Class at Montana State University.
In the Fall of 2016, I was paired with the “other Vanessa” in class and a local farmer. The task: create a product out of what our farmer grew on his farm. Walsten was always fascinated with fermentation and it didn’t take long for her to convince me that fermented vegetables were the way to go for our class project. As a Sustainable Food and Bio-energy Systems major, I thought leaving the type of product decision up to her was a smart idea. Turns out we were both right.
As a Business Marketing major myself, I was more concerned that the product tasted great and that I could pull together a solid business plan to back it up. Although we originally had no intention of continuing with the project post semester, we also wanted to make sure our product made sense and helped our farmer. After many conversations with our partner farmer, we decided to take it a step further, and not only create a value added product, but also help solve a major problem on his farm: food loss in the form of ugly and excess crops that he cannot traditionally sell. Which isn’t only money lost, but it’s also labor, water and most importantly, food lost.
And so, Farmented Foods was born.
Our original product line today (2019). You can tell we’ve come a long way in the packaging department since the original idea!
After the completion of the class, we received such a positive reaction from not only our partner farmer, but other local farmers as well. We realized quickly that ugly crops were a widespread issue on all of our local farms, and our solution actually worked.
So what was our solution exactly? It’s simple. We purchase the ugly and excess crops from local, organic farmers. Chop, shred and dice them all up. Ferment it. Then BOOM: tasty, locally cultured vegetables ready for your enjoyment.
We entered a few startup competitions where we were awarded all of our original start-up capital, allowing us to actually start Farmented. That was in the spring of 2017 and we haven’t slowed down since. Walsten and I have both long since graduated from Montana State University and in December of 2017 we sold our first batch of jars at the Bozeman Winter Farmers Market. And when I say we sold our first batch, I mean we sold out. Of everything we had. So we quickly expanded. Then expanded some more. And some more. And them more again.
To put it in perspective, we started out making 90 jars per month, only selling at farmers markets. Today we produce over 1200 jars a month, in two locations, distribute across the United States, and most importantly have saved over 50,000 pounds of ugly vegetables from being wasted (as of 1/24).
And we’re not stopping anytime soon. We love what we do and we love saving all the ugly veggies we can. Through Farmented we hope to not only save the veggies but help spread our love of ugly vegetables and their important role in creating a more sustainable food system.
Vanessa Walsten always jokes that she had originally hoped we wouldn’t be matched up for that Farm to Market project due to the confusing aspects of our name. But, I’m happy to say we both feel incredibly lucky to get to work with each other every day and do what we do.
Thanks for helping us #savetheveggies, one ugly vegetable at a time.
- Vanessa Williamson, Co-founder, Farmented Foods