Suzette Smith, Founder of Garden Goddess Ferments Shares How She is Out to Heal the World
By Jules Lavallee
Suzette Smith is the Founder of Garden Goddess Ferments, a fermented food factory based in Phoenix Arizona. Suzette grew up in the south on a farm where her parents pioneered from the big city to have a more simple life. Growing up, Suzette learned the value of hard work beside her father, whether driving the tractor, pulling weeds or managing the livestock. Eating from the garden was how she grew up. Canning, scratch cooking and aired laundry were the norm. As an adult, that simpleness in diet never left. Processed foods and mystery meats were never an attraction prefering more of the same from the garden she grew up on. Over the next few decades Suzette was in full gypsy mode and experienced many cultures throughout the US, Australia and Mexico.
Becoming a Mom, then a single Mom she was frustrated with the medical system and the chronic infections her son was experiencing. In Australia she connected with the natural medicine practitioners there and learned even more about the importance of diet and adding on that herbs, vegetables and quality proteins to feed her family. A simple garlic trick cleared the infection she had been fighting in her son. Detoxing the body was a normal conversation and she started learnign about the microbiome. Fascinated with gut health, Suzette connected with a few supplement companies and took every course and lecture about the human body and specifically gut health. 15 years ago, she was helping people learn about detox foods, fasting and nutrient supplementation. In researching she found an article on fermented foods and was intrigued, a food that supported gut health! Not realizing she was making sauerkraut until she stunk up the complex and tried her first batch. How cool, you can make a food to help detox and feed good bacteria the gut.
After much support and encouragement from her friends, she launched Garden Goddess. Starting with sauerkraut and then learning about the beet kvass Suzette was managing 15 local farmers markets a week. Being the only fermented food company in Phoenix at that time there were many challenges, wins and disappointments. Celebrating 10 years in business Suzette has become the top seller in Beet Kvass.
Is the gut the grand central station for your health and body functions? We sure think so, many/most of your body gets its energy from your microbiome, serotonin is produced in the gut, your immune is guided by the strength of your gut, of course your digestive track and so many other idiosycrisys are started in the gut. We learned in school that you are what you eat and that is true, our body’s health will reflect your diet.
Who inspired you to launch Garden Goddess Ferments?
I was at a crossroads in my life, I loved learning and teaching detox programs with food, eating real food and the benefits of nutritional supplements. I had gone through decades of learning the benefits of whole food, supplementation, detoxing, water fasting all to improve gut health. I was fascinated and came across an article about fermented foods and how healing they were to the microbiome….the article came with a recipe and I thought how simple and wondered if that was really sauerkraut….It was an article on fermented foods and I was not a privy connoisseur to sauerkraut except for that little tub at Costco you would throw on your hotdog. A friend reached out and suggested we start a business. And we did! She had the money and I had the time. She quickly pulled out to maintain her existing business and I kept running, not sure how, when or if this was going to work. At that time I was in survival mode, I saw the positive impact these products were having and knew I had something to run with. I was making a positive difference!
How is the Garden Goddess Ferments out to heal the world?
When I founded this company, I was at ground zero. I had lost everything on so many levels, marriage, homes, investments, friends, family. I had nowhere to go but up. The first few years I was running on empty 24/7. I was attracting people that needed a hand, just like I had needed at one time, a job, a product, a chance. And we made it work. I was able to offer a few hours of work or some product to help someone. And it’s just grown from there. I still have some of the same customers I’ve had since I started. We believe offering a quality product with a little love and suggestion on getting back to a whole food diet can really change your life.
Please share challenges, wins and disappointments over the past 10-years.
We like to eat challenges for breakfast! Shipping ferments in glass has got to be the most challenging hill we’ve had to climb! The packaging is one thing but having to offset shipping costs because some online platforms offer “Free Shipping” with an annual fee and it’s pure deceit! It’s infuriating and knocks so many small businesses out of the game. There is no such thing as free shipping! Even with a fee! I’ve submitted my product for those programs and you have to build the shipping in the price to confuse/deceive the consumer. We have SO many wins. We get wins every day. A phone call, a review, a testimony on how we have changed someone’s life, they’ve reduced medications, lost weight, feel better, you name it! Every single time it makes my heart smile and it never gets old.
What is beet kvass?
I found kvass mentioned in the mid 500’s in Turkey, meaning sour vegetable. That is a fermented/pickled beet. We create a brine, add some salt and spices and let nature do its thing. It takes a minimum of 3 weeks to ferment then we bottle and distribute. We have found that an ounce or two a day is all you need to reap the rewards.
Share the benefits.
- Supports Gut Health During fermentation, beneficial bacteria (such as Lactobacillus species) can develop in the kvass. These microbes may help support a healthy gut microbiome, although the exact probiotic content varies depending on how the kvass is made and stored.
Rich in Beet Nutrients
Beet kvass contains some of the nutrients naturally present in beets, including:
Potassium, Magnesium, Folate, Manganese
- Dietary Nitrates
Beets are naturally high in nitrates, which the body can convert into nitric oxide. Nitric oxide helps blood vessels relax and may:
Support healthy blood pressure, Improve blood flow, Enhance exercise performance
- Antioxidant Compounds
Digestion
Many people find fermented foods and beverages easier to digest and report improvements in digestive comfort when incorporating them into their diets.
Beets contain betalains, pigments with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Tell us about your Kraut Jerky and other kraut products.
We have 4 flavors of sauerkraut, each made in small batches, hand cut, hand packed. Each flavor has a unique personality and you would have to read the ingredients to understand. We aren’t just cabbage and some spices, we have a full garden in our krauts and they have the flavor to prove it. Power Kraut is my first recipe and I wanted to make the most powerful food, so I added herbs like garlic, turmeric and ginger for anti inflammatory, anti bacterical, cilantro to help clean the blood, red cabbage with it’s beautiful color and additional antioxidants along with carrots and green onion for a good dose of sugar for the bacterium and prebiotic to get the party started. Kowboy is our second recipe and most popular. Along with a personal story, it too is loaded with garden veggies like celery, purple onion, red bell pepper, green poblano chili’s, garlic and some cumin seed and peppercorn to really roundup the flavor on anything from a juicy burger to avocado toast to a breakfast burrito. The kraut jerky is a fun travel size of dehydrated krauts. I came up with the idea when I was throwing out full sample jars and I needed a solution to not waste great food. Our kraut jerky is salty, sour, chewy and addicting. You have to try it to believe it.
You are the author of a children’s book titled ‘Sasha & Sheila’ that teaches kids the importance of eating healthy. Take us through the book.
I needed to rewrite my childhood and I was in the midst of watching a bestie losing the fight of her life to lung cancer. Also in an unhealthy relationship, I needed an escape and made the outcome better than what I was surviving at the time. So I wrote a book. I named it after my friend Sheila and created the perfect story for me. We lived, we loved and we learned.
What is next?
We are going national! We are out to be the first nationally recognized beet kvass on the market. We want to be in national chains so everyone has a chance to try and benefit from our product. We are also coming out with a new flavor in our kvass and super excited to be launching that in the fall. We got the Beet!
So happy for you Suzette! You deserve the success! You have worked hard and persevered. Thank God and I pray and ask him to guide you in every step of the way as he IS by your side.