Ibiza’s providores: Los Fermentistas

How did you both end up in Ibiza? 

We met in Amsterdam in 1999, and ten years later went from a friendship into a relationship.
We had been looking to leave the city life for a long time, both wanting to live in the countryside, grow veggies, and enjoy nature, but we found it hard to agree on the place!

Then, after a near death experience in April 2015 (motorbike accident in Bali), life sped up, the need to act and move became more urgent. After visiting a good friend in Ibiza that October, it was decided, this is the place, the next move. Four months later we were here, living in a little cottage on a hillside with our first veggie patch!

Why did you start fermenting? 

For many years I struggled with my health. My first port of call was my nutrition and I found that I had a reaction to the milk protein casein, which I subsequently took out of my diet, eliminating dairy. Although my health improved, I wanted to delve deeper. I was introduced to live sauerkraut by a friend of mine in Germany and after that first mouthful, once it hit my body, I had a reaction unlike anything I’ve ever felt and I instinctively knew that I needed more of whatever this was! I started talking to friends already making ferments and they pointed me in the direction of kimchi…my first ever ferment! Then I moved onto kombucha.

Jakob, who was the cook in our household was constantly watching over my shoulder and asking questions, so eventually we got him his own scoby and he hasn’t looked back since.We both knew that we wanted to share our findings with others, in the hope that they may also benefit in the way that I had, so after our move to Ibiza in February 2016 we began setting up Los Fermentistas and went live in December of 2016. Now Jakob is our fermenter, he produces all the products and is a true nerd about all things fermented, whilst I stay in the back office. We found this a healthy way to maintain a marriage and business by keeping out of each other’s way.

What is the inspiration behind the name and the logo?

Through my own ferments and creating diversity in my gut flora, I had actually began to heal myself. Heal myself through something I made! This was revolutionary to me! I had taken my health into my own hands. Having lived in Mexico in the early 2000s for some years, and much of that time in Chiapas, I was introduced to the indigenous group ‘Los Zapatistas’ who were, and still are, fighting for land reform and indigenous autonomy for more than 30 years.

When looking for a name for the business, this revolutionary element would not leave my mind, and I thought about Los Zapatistas, and their fight to reclaim their land. Having felt like I had reclaimed my own inner garden, this seemed like a good play on words, and a way to highlight their plight. I think the name Los Fermentistas makes the brand more accessible, it’s not just another health food brand, it’s edgy, political even, it has values, and it stands for more than simply what it is.

What are the products that you make?

We now produce four types of kimchi, classic kimchi, daikon kimchi, pumpkin kimchi and a vegan kimchi. We are not vegan, but we want to cater for everyone in the market. We make a delicious sauerkraut, and a vegan version of sobrasada, which we call sobrasana. We also produce kombucha which focuses on the flavour profile of the tea rather than second fermentations and added flavours, our kombucha is made with Assam black tea and rose. Our Jun Kombucha is made with jasmine green tea and local raw honey from Ibiza.

What are the benefits of your products?

Our products are teeming with probiotics giving us a diversity of beneficial bacteria. This has a beneficial impact on the digestive system, helping us to access and absorb nutriments. They help the immune system by increasing antibodies that fight infectious disease. They also have an impact on our moods and sense of well-being as they help to regulate serotonin production. The raw honey in our Jun Kombucha helps people with allergies living on this little island.

You have a few other things running alongside the product range, can you
tell us a bit about those please?

In order to highlight ferments to a wider audience, we believe people need more accessibility to them, and be given ideas of how to use them. So once a year we run a three-part practical workshop, which teaches people lacto fermentation, sauerkraut and kimchi making, and how to make kombucha and ginger beer. We also have a street food stand where we make vegan Pad Thai with a side of ferments, and a cocktail bar in which we serve cocktails with kombucha!

What does the future have in store for Los Fermentistas? 

We are in exciting times right now! We have just broken into the Mallorca market. We love it there and the products were really well received. We hope to be doing some workshops there in the autumn also. We also have a new product coming out that we are super excited about, as it doesn’t need refrigeration, which gives us even more possibility to spread our probiotics far and wide …. keep an eye on our socials for its release.