About Food & Ferments

Fermented Foods Since 2013

There’s something I’ve known since I was a kid: I wanted to run a vegetable stand. Not a big company. Not a corporate brand. Just a place where good food connects people—where what you grow, make, and share actually matters. Today, Food & Ferments is that dream, just grown up.

Rooted in Cabbage Country, Central New York

I grew up in cabbage country in Central New York, where the rhythm of the seasons shaped everyday life. My grandfather Ernie told stories about planting and harvesting cabbages as a boy—stories rooted in hard work, pride, tradition, and feeding people well. That sense of place and family still guides everything we do.

How Food & Ferments Began

About 15 years ago, everything clicked into place when we tasted beet kvass for the first time at a food conference that fosued on nutrient dense tradional foods. It wasn’t just a new flavor—it felt ancient, familiar, and deeply nourishing.

At the same time Carly was growing up in the country, Dave was bringing his own story to the table—learning to cook in his mom’s kitchen in suburban Philadelphia, experimenting with flavors, and making regular trips to the corner store for a pickle straight from the barrel.

Food & Ferments was born from those two paths—farm roots and a sense of home.

Small-Batch Fermented Foods from the Finger Lakes

Today, we craft award-winning fermented foods, probiotic tonics, and apple cider vinegar drinks in Cortland, New York.

We source about 90% of our vegetables from local farmers across the Finger Lakes region—turning fresh, New York–grown produce into sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, beet kvass, and other living foods.

You can find our ferments online— shipped nationwide, at farmers markets, and in over 100 retail locations across the tri-state area.

Traditional Fermentation. No Shortcuts.

We believe good food is about place—about family, culture, and feeding our community.

That means:

• Sourcing from New York family farms

• Using traditional fermentation methods

• Letting time—not vinegar—do the work

Every jar is made to be alive with flavor, function, and connection to the land it came from.

From a Vegetable Stand to Your Table

In a lot of ways, it still feels like that vegetable stand I dreamed about—just with a little more fermentation.

Thank you for being part of it.

-Carly & Dave