A NEW Monmouthshire business is bringing a taste of Asia to South Wales.
The Crafty Pickle Co started life in Aberdeen, after founders Arthur Serini and Madi Myers spent time in the city studying at university.
"We relocated in March this year," said Ms Myers.
"Neither of us are from Scotland though so when we found out we were expecting our first baby we decided to move closer to family for some much needed help and support."
The duo have now spent the last few months fitting out their brand new kitchen in Crick, Caldicot.
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As well as making sauerkraut - pickled cabage originating in northern Europe - Crafty Pickle are also bringing the tastes of east Asia to Monmouthshire in the form of kimchi.
Kimchi originates from Korea (they're the biggest consumers of it in the world) and is also a cabbage-based condiment flavoured with chilli and a range of other ingredients.
"Our kimchi is Korean-inspired (we do a spin on traditional kimchi) and packs a punch of chilli, garlic and ginger," said Ms Myers.
Arthur Serini and Madi Myers (and friend) - founders of Crafty Pickle Co
"We also use often-wasted cauliflower leaves in our kimchi as part of our business mission is to fight food waste and raise awareness of it. We collaborate with other businesses such as BrewDog to make use of their cauliflower leaves in this product, as they'd otherwise just send them for compost.
"So far we've rescued more than 600kg of fruit and veg - but we're always looking to increase our impact so welcome any ideas for who we can work with in the future. We also donate a percentage of every sale back to FareShare to support the work they do fighting food insecurity in this country."
Crafty Pickle have three core sauerkraut flavours (piccalilli kraut, caraway & garlic kraut and a red cabbage mustard kraut).
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They also make limited-batch ferments to make use of any surplus.
"Right now we have a Kimchi-flavoured Cauliflower ferment making use of surplus cauliflower from FareShare," said Ms Myers.
Fermentation has been used to preserve food for centuries.
"It harnesses the power of naturally occurring microbes found on fruit and vegetables," said Ms Myers.
"We select for conditions which favour their growth and in turn they produce acids and by-products which preserve the produce."
Crafty Pickle are also starting to hold workshops teaching the skills of fermentation.
The first is on August 28.
They have also joined the Wye Valley Producers group of exciting food producers.
"We're very excited as they've done such good things since they began and we're hoping to collaborate more with the awesome producers in this group," said Ms Myers.
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