Young Entrepreneur Series: Local mothers give life to Kombucha in Kelowna

Similar to the journey of motherhood, the process of fermentation is a long-term commitment filled with love and attention.

So it made sense that when Alisha Heidt and Rochelle Minagawa met during each other’s maternity leave, the two expecting mothers quickly bonded.

They soon learned that along with having motherhood in common, both shared a passion for fermentation, health and wellness.

“I have always had strong passions for environmental sustainability, health and wellness,” said Heidt.

“As a life-long learner, when I came across the notion of fermented foods being used to heal the body I was hooked.”

For Minagawa, the journey towards discovering fermentation had humble beginnings, first trying a friend's homemade batch of Kombucha.

“This was before it was available in stores and it was a totally new concept me,” said Minagawa.

“I started experimenting at home with my own scoby and fell in love with how much fun fermentation is to experiment with and also how it's a cost effective and simple way to add probiotics to your diet.”

A shared loved of fermentation combined with a keen eye for business helped the two friends recognize a gap in the Okanagan when it came to locally sourced, organically produced Kombucha.

The two recognized the Kombucha market was exploding in the Western United States and was starting to pop up all over the coast, but yet no one at the Kelowna Farmers Market had a booth.

Thus the concept for MotherLoveFerments was born.

MotherLove began with just a booth at the local Farmer’s Market, next the two started selling home brew kits along with facilitating workshops on kombucha, kimchi and kraut.

Now over 30 locations in the Okanagan carry MotherLove products and the two are just getting started.

MotherLove Ferments is currently working on their next step and are in the process of building out a kombucha brewery which will be the company’s first independent space.

“Originally, the plan was to start a side business while juggling our careers but it soon became apparent that MotherLove was going to be something that would require all hands on deck,” said the two business partners.

Heidt and Minagawa are excited to continue their journey down the path of entrepreneurship and helping bring the health benefits of Kombucha to the Okanagan.

If you’re interested in learning about the fermentation process, MotherLove is holding a "Kombucha in the Kitchen" workshop on April 21st, 2017.

You can register for it by clicking here.