Saturday Farmers’ Market Vendor Feature: Salty Cabbage
This week we are featuring Salty Cabbage, a first year vendor at our market! Salty Cabbage offers kimchi made from a variety of locally-sourced produce, all are gluten-free and without preservatives and a great source of probiotic goodness. We recently had the pleasure of chatting with owner and UBC alumni, Kailyn Chunn, to find out more.
How long has Salty Cabbage been around? How did you get started?
We started last September, so it has been almost 9months. We started making and selling kimchi because it’s hard to find good kimchi in Vancouver. They are all imported from Korea and China and most of them are over fermented by the time customers purchase them. Most of them have MSG and preservatives and are non-vegan. We offer clean, fresh kimchi and have 2 types of vegan-friendly kimchi.
What are the three most important things you think people should know about Salty Cabbage?
- We make authentic Korean kimchi without any MSG or preservatives.
- We use the top-quality ingredients and local fruits and vegetables when they are available.
- We also make kimchi in small batches, everything is hand chopped and hand mixed.
What is kimchi? What is its history in Korea?
Kimchi is simply salted napa cabbage marinated in different spices. You start eating them when it’s fresh and it slowly gets fermented over time. It is one of the healthiest food in the world because of the amount of probiotics and vitamins it has.
Korean people started making kimchi when napa cabbages were first imported from China. Back in the old days there was no refrigeration, so people started preserving vegetables before winter and eat them throughout long cold winter days.
What makes yours unique?
. We just make 4 of those hundred different types- Classic, Vegan Classic, White, and Radish kimchi. It’s the most well-known and the most common kimchi you will see in Korea. However, our kimchi stands out from other commercial brands because our kimchi is homestyle, authentic, and only use real ingredients. It’s different in texture, smell, and taste. A lot of new customers become regular customers and order our bulk tub monthly.
You mention sourcing local ingredients for your products, what thought process goes into sourcing ingredients?
When we buy local ingredients, I buy them from someone I trust, usually farmers I meet from farmers markets. Their products might be pricier than those mass-produced products. However, the quality from local farmers are much better since they put so much effort and care into their products. Another perk of buying ingredients from local farmers at farmers’ market is that you can check the quality and the taste of their products weekly at the market.
If you could only have one of your kimchis for the rest of your life which one would it be?
It would definitely be our classic kimchi. I love the sweet and spicy flavour when it’s fresh and the fizziness and tangy flavour when it’s fermented. I eat a jar of classic kimchi daily and I can’t survive without it.
Why did you choose to come to the UBC Saturday Market specifically?
I graduated from UBC so I get newsletters and updates on social media platforms regularly. UBC Market was the very first market I had in mind when I first researched on markets. I love how it is set up right on the farm and there are so many unique vendors here.
Where else can customers find you? And is there anything else you want them to know?
You can find us at UBC farmers market, Mt. Pleasant farmers market and West end farmers market. For retail stores, we are at Sungiven foods, West Wood Organics in Kerrisdale, The federal store, Meinhardt, Nourish Market, Larry’s market, Pomme natural, and Grocery checkout UBC. We are also at C market coffee in Coquitlam and spent grounds coffee roasters in Surrey. If you place an order on our website, we deliver for free once a month in certain regions