Peace, Love & Vegetables
Thursday, December 8th, 2016 | crankit
Byron Bay, NSW
Peace, Love and Vegetables is a health food manufacturing and distribution company in Byron Bay, started by couple Adam and Anya in 2011. With a focus on the right philosophy and unique cultured vegetable products at the right price, they now employ over thirty staff, supply outlets nationwide, run a store front at the factory and have become certified organic in 2015. Here’s how it all happened…
Anya grew up in Russia, where every summer her family would pickle lots of produce to last them through the winter. Green tomatoes, red tomatoes, garlic, cucumber, capsicums and sauerkraut (cabbage). When she moved to the U.S. there was no need for pickling, as veggies were accessible all year round. After living on a “Standard American Diet” (SAD) for a few years though, she was suffering digestive issues. She began following the Body Ecology Diet, where cultured vegetables are essential for gut healing. This is when she re-introduced sauerkraut into her life, in her early twenties. “In Russia, it was an essential food to live through harsh winters. In the U.S. it was essential food to heal my gut” – Anya
Adam met Anya in Australia while she was visiting friends and making ferments like kefir and sauerkraut for them. They quickly fell in love and Adam was introduced to the whole process of fermenting. Adam didn’t grow up eating fermented foods in Australia. He’s always had a taste for sour things but after being introduced to cultures when he met his lovely wife, Anya, he started eating them to heal his gut and improve his digestion. He’s always enjoyed the taste, but these days he craves it and eats a Peace, Love and Vegetables product with most meals. Deeply inspired by their own health adventure, the couple wanted to share it to enrich other peoples’ lives… And so “Peace, Love and Vegetables” was born!
The couple began fermenting and experimenting with various methods and ingredients. They made plenty of mistakes in the early days as they learned all about this new food industry. It’s helped them learn and grow, and they embrace the mistakes as well as the successes, in business and in life. “There are challenges in every day and rewards when we get over them, and it’s worth it” – Adam and Anya.
PLV are currently supplying us a range of Superkrauts, the most divine cashew cheese in the universe, and a healthy dose of inspiration. These guys REALLY know how to make great healthful and delicious products.
“Bless the famers, bless the makers, bless the bacteria & bless ourselves” PLV