Hi, we’re Andrew and Beverly. We are Hidden Pond Farm, artisan producers of organic, raw fermented foods. We are located on the small farm that was Andy’s boyhood home, in Wayne County, Indiana. Since 2008 we have been an LLC, and built on our place a state-certified production facility, possibly the only facility in Indiana dedicated to fermented foods. Our mission is to make and sell the most health-giving foods available.

We call raw fermented foods the “Forgotten Superfoods”. These nutrient-dense, health-giving traditional foods have been largely missing from our typical diet for a couple of generations. But raw ferments are making a resurgence, their health-giving benefits remembered as more people take responsibility for their own diet and health and realize the amazing health benefits of fermented foods.

We make Sauerkraut (7 varieties), Beet Kvass (4 varieties), Kombucha (7 varieties), KimChi, Ketchup, BBQ, Hawthorn Berry Syrup and SuperTonic. Except for the medicinal tonics these are living foods: nutrient-dense and raw-fermented, they are never heated, and are loaded with live probiotics and enzymes. For our ingredients we use local organic produce whenever possible, supporting local growers and the local economy. We grow some of the produce ourselves as well.

Why Raw Fermented Foods?

Raw fermented foods are a class of food that has been crowded out of our diets since the development of modern means of preservation: canning, pasteurization, nuking, chemical preservatives, even genetic modification. Prior to these preservation methods, fermentation was the primary means of preservation, a la Grandma’s sauerkraut crock in the cellar.

But when we stopped fermenting foods to preserve them we didn’t realize that we also were giving up a host of badly needed health benefits. Fermentation actually greatly enhances the nutritive values in foods, and we sorely need those enhancements in our diet. Fermentation multiplies beneficial enzymes, even creating enzymes that weren’t there before. It increases the vitamin content. It creates large numbers of beneficial microbes, the kind that populate the gut and greatly aid digestion and even immune function, which, surprisingly, is largely microbial.

As a society, we are badly missing the health benefits of fermented foods, and for the most part we don’t even know it. We don’t face that in large part our modern diet is killing us. Our diet, more than any other factor is why in spite of being the “best fed” nation on earth we rank 78th in health. Our diet is the “most modern” on Earth, and that, in a nutshell, is why we’re so unhealthy. Ferments is only part of the picture, but a key part, and ferments is the niche we’ve chosen to build our business on.Quality is our watch word. Our products are well received at farmers markets, health food stores and co-ops. We hope we can help you on your journey to vibrant health.