My business partner Jared and I have launched Van Isle Kefir Company, a company dedicated to brewing and distributing the novel and incredibly delicious drink 'apple kefir,' a kombucha-like fermented 'soda' made from 100% raw apple juice with no added sugars. This drink has been pioneered by myself over 5 consecutive seasons with my prior company Salt Spring Söda Co. (est. 2016), where I sold thousands of litres of small-batch apple kefir by the cup and bottle at farmers' markets, festivals and other events. This business kept me busy for 5 years, as I self-taught myself how to commercially brew and distribute this new product for what seems to be the first commercial apple kefir operation in the world. For this same period, without knowledge of each others' existence, Jared was working to develop probiotic drinks as well. He had gone deep into the world of kombucha, jun and other fermented drinks, including helping to bring to market a fermented jun drink from Babe's Honey Farm, and brewing a high end kombucha jun product at JagaSilk Tea. Now, after a chance meeting in 2020 Jared and I have teamed up and signed a lease for a commercial kitchen space in Downtown Victoria and are ordering top quality fermenting and processing equipment, and developing a strong business model to perfect the process of brewing small scale apple kefir and distributing it to a local area. Pivotal to my past, and to our shared future of the company is to establish a presence on a farm, including hopefully purchasing our own in 5 - 7 years. For now our apple juice will come from wherever we can get it - Vancouver Island, Salt Spring Island or the Okanagan. Long term, we would like to plant apple trees in a progressive technique that allows for maximal apple yield and a strong regenerative effect on the soil and ecology around the trees. This would look something like a food forest-type system of multiple cultivars of apple and other trees and plants selected for adaptation to environmental conditions - including increased drought and other climate effects. This is why we are looking to the Young Agrarians Land Matching service, to see if any farms in the area are interested in partnering with our business. In addition to planting trees - which is not as much of economic necessity but to align the values of our business with what we are doing with our profits - we would also have needs for other aspects of the business that might be able to be worked into any arrangement, such as dry storage and storage of frozen juice. I currently also run a carpentry company called Perennial Philosophy Design and Build focusing on garden carpentry, and we offer a variety of skills that could be of use to a farm - constructing fencing, outbuildings, decks, etc. Trading our services could be part of any agreement, and the company would also be interested in renting a workspace as part of the agreement, if that is of interest to the farm owners. Our website can be viewed at PerennialPhilosophy.ca
Easy to plant trees in - grassland would likely be best