The following is an online extra from the Spring/Summer 2020 edition of Dine, included with our April issue and heading to newsstands soon.
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The founders of Wild Earth Fermentation, Bri McCarthy and Grant Collier
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Collier in the couple's back yard in Fulton Hill, where they grow a variety of produce
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Wild Earth makes a variety of products from kimchi to sauerkraut and hot sauces.
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Customers can find Wild Earth's products at local stores including Ellwood Thompson's, Belmont Butchery and Outpost.
In 2015, partners Grant Collier, 30, and Bri McCarthy, 28, left their jobs and Washington, D.C., apartment for a cross-country trip, a journey that would become a catalyst for the duo’s new company, Wild Earth Fermentation. The two James Madison University graduates hopped on touring bikes and along their six-month adventure worked and lived with farmers, explored food systems in different cities, and developed a stronger understanding of business. Happenstance brought the two back to Richmond, and over the past five years they've grown their vision into successful business, establishing a presence at markets and grocers across the city.
Richmond magazine: How did Wild Earth Fermentation come about?
Grant Collier: We had always been interested in agriculture and sustainability. When we graduated college, I got a normal desk job and was having stomach and digestive issues and [was] just not happy with my lifestyle, and Bri was also not happy. We biked around the country just to get out and reconfigure our lifestyle. As we were doing that, we visited a lot of farms and WOOLFed and volunteered. When we were in college we were doing farm internships and learning about environmental issues, but a few years later when traveling, I was learning more about the business of the farm. I had never been someone interested in business, but I saw that I can create my own vision of what I want to do and offer people. It changed my whole perspective. We did see some fermentation companies in bigger cities and liked their message and what they were doing. We thought, this is what matters to us, supporting local farms, supporting local food specialty production and enhancing it and making it more available to consumers in a different way that’s really healthy and tasty.
RM: What was the next step after realizing you both wanted to take this agricultural path?
Collier: We had no plans of staying in Richmond at all and just kind of fell in love with the city. We realized nobody was really doing [fermentation]. We weren’t sure if starting a farm was the thing we wanted to do, but we wanted to support those people and be involved with the local food economy and promote sustainability. It just kind of all came together at once. While in Jackson Ward we started to make bigger batches for our roommates and friends and stuff and then linked up with some folks locally in Mechanicsville and actually moved to their farm. They helped us out … and kind of pushed us in the beginning to take that next step. It gave us a little space to focus on making this company happen and [we] actually [were] working on recipes there and made our first recipes at that farm. 2016 was a really, really challenging year, but we landed in Birdhouse Farmers Market and then later got into South of the James Market.
RM: What was that transition to the market like for you both?
Collier: It was definitely difficult coming into a new city for us and establishing trust and connection with the preexisting food scene that was already here. It was as important to us, not just building a customer base and gaining their support, I wanted to make friends and work with Amy [Hicks of Amy's Garden] and Autumn [Campbell of Tomten Farm] and the local farms here and figure out how we could purchase their stuff on a regular basis. The hardest part of this business is how do we work with farms, and we’ve learned a lot of lessons since then.
RM: Do you have a product you enjoy making most?
Collier: The hot sauces, because they are seasonal and I grow a lot of the peppers. I pick my own peppers or ingredients and bring them right into the kitchen; it’s really fulfilling. I do enjoy all of it and making all of it. The jarring gets tedious sometimes [laughs] — we are packing every jar by hand. I’ve always loved hot sauce, really hot stuff and experimenting with really hot peppers. We grew some ridiculously hot peppers for this next hot sauce, the hottest we’ve made. Our sauces are thick and have substance, like vegetables in them. They get used more like a condiment and used frequently. People that love hot sauce say … when they collect it, they just sit around and don’t get used, and I like that people actually use ours.
RM: How has your product line grown over the years?
Collier: We're pretty happy with what we have, and I don’t think we’ll ever stop making new products, but now I feel an obligation to maintain what we have been making and constantly perfect our craft. We started with sauerkraut, garlic, beet and caraway, and then went into hot sauces. Did kimchi, which was pretty successful, and then developed a couple more the next year. Chow chow I was really skeptical about at first, but some people really get mad if I don’t have it. Certain items we make I know I only want Autumn’s eggplant for, and that sort of thing has been really helpful when working with farms. Pickled items is our newest thing. We did cucumber and koji dill pickles, then a curry okra pickle, and this last year we did red onion pickles. Everything kinda grows.
RM: What is something you would like to relay to the community about fermentation?
Collier: You can do it if you want. It’s really easy to make sauerkraut, and there’s a million videos online. Nothing is stopping people from doing it right now. You will make some mistakes and just keep trying to get something you really enjoy. It’s basic concepts you have to understand. Home fermentation is an incredible source of food security.
RM: Is there a favorite product of Wild Earth’s that people seem to really enjoy?
Collier: There are different types of fans [laughs]. I thought about making these T-shirts [about it], some people really want kimchi, some people really want the kraut, and I think people have a type or two of things they really like of ours and look forward to — that seasonal item or some we make year-round. I try to get people to try new things, but all of our stuff sells really well, so I keep making it.
RM: In your down time, what can we find you both doing?
Collier: Biking.
RM: Wait, you still like to bike?
Collier: [laughs] Yes, we still like to bike. Not quite as far, but the Capital Trail is really great. We like to kayak in the river and actually the past two years have gone and harvested a kayak full of paw paws in the early fall and [made] a paw paw hot sauce. We’re interested in foraging and drinking good beer and eating good food.
