Keeping Fermentation Alive: From Kitchen to Scale — Somerville Fermentation Festival

Keeping Fermentation Alive: Principles from Kitchen to Scale

What happens when traditional fermentation meets a modern food system built for consistency, speed, and shelf stability?

Join the founders of HEX Ferments for a live kraut-making demonstration and an exploration of what it takes to produce truly living fermented foods at scale while staying rooted in traditional methods. Through stories from production, practical insights for home fermenters, and a guided tasting, this session examines the principles that matter most in fermentation—from ingredient quality and microbial ecosystems to patience, variability, and trust in the process.

About the Speaker

Meaghan and Shane Carpenter are the co-founders of HEX Ferments, a Baltimore-based fermentation company producing raw sauerkrauts, kimchis, pickles, and kombucha using locally sourced ingredients. What began as home fermentation projects, food preservation classes, and a shared interest in art, agriculture, and traditional foodways grew into Baltimore's first licensed producer of traditionally fermented foods. Since 2013, HEX Ferments has earned multiple Good Food Awards and recognition from Slow Food International for preserving authentic fermentation practices. Today, through HEX Ferments, HEX Superette, educational workshops, and partnerships with regional farms, they are dedicated to keeping living food traditions alive and accessible to more people. Follow @hexferments

Part of the Somerville Fermentation Festival 2026

This session is part of the second annual Somerville Fermentation Festival — a bubbling celebration of fermented foods and the people (and microbes!) who make them.