You may have used this line on kids that are turning up their nose at some new food offering...Just shut up and try it.
And that's basically how North Bay's Marketa Mervart came up with the name for her company that produces a line of probiotic-rich ferments.
"It's because of the kids, when they don't want to eat the healthy food, I say 'just shut up and try it.'
Mervart is back at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair with a booth promoting her products. She is a health and fitness enthusiast who learned the ancient art and craft of fermentation in the Czech Republic
It all started with an old-school fermentation crock and a passion for getting probiotic-rich foods.
"I started it with a friend in 2016 and now it's just me. We started in Toronto and then I moved to North. Bay. So now I make everything in North Bay trying to use all the produce from up there, all the cabbage from the Mennonites, and yeah, just local veggies," she told BayToday.
"The season is shorter up there, but there's enough to go around so it's not too bad. I've been able to keep it pretty local, most of the stuff, the honey for my kombucha and gin kombucha.
"Yes this does make us feel better about our weekend cocktails," says her website about ginger and cinnamon green tea kombucha with ingredients of vodka, ginger and cinnamon green tea kombucha, and lemon.
She's happy to share instructions:
- In a small glass, pour in 1 part vodka and 1 part kombucha
- Add a few lemon slices.
- Drink quickly and repeat.
"It's milder than regular kombucha. It's made with green tea and raw honey. I get raw honey near Verner."
Mervart says she's seen the benefits of her products.
"I turned a certain age and I had some issues, so I just learned that you can ferment cabbage. You can grow the most probiotics from any vegetable. I'm also originally from the Czech Republic, so I grew up with fermentation. My grandparents fermented all the time. So yeah, just gut health is everything. It's your immune system, it's your digestion, brain health and it really works."
What kind of demand is there for this?
"It's not top of mind for people who know about the benefits. They will go out and find it. A lot of people just think of it as a condiment. So I do try to have a conversation that it's not just a condiment, don't just let it sit in the back of your fridge waiting for a sausage. It should be eaten daily. So there's a huge educational component that I try to talk to people about when they come over and sample."
She's very big on the benefits of cabbage juice.
"Cabbage juice is very healing for the gut, so you can do a little shot before you eat your food or before a meal and then it will help with digestion, or if you have indigestion. It helps with with digestion. It's all about digestion."
It's not the first Fair for Mervart and she's found the Northern Ontario Pavilion very helpful in promoting her business.
"There's tons of people that come through here, so there's a customer for everybody here at the pavilion. It's amazing. Yeah. Really good."
The FedNor-sponsored Northern Ontario Agri-Food Pavilion, is once again providing an important spotlight for Northern Ontario businesses on an international stage at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Since it began in 2001, the Northern Ontario Agri-Food Pavilion has helped generate nearly $20 million in exhibitor sales. The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, which sees hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, is now on in Toronto until November 10.
See: Water Buffalo horns make great dog treats says local businesswoman
BayToday is covering the Fair and will present stories on northern Ontario businesses in the near future.
