Nature Bites: Growing at Her Own Pace
Part Four: The Garden Opens Up
Once Sansan had settled in and made the space comfortable for herself, she began thinking about using the yard as a place to communicate with the outside world. Opening a shop seemed like a natural idea. But what kind of shop, and what would she want to share with people?
Snout & Seek
In Case you missed it - here are parts 1-3.
“When I first had the desire to share what I believe in with others, it quickly occurred to me that the younger generation, especially small children, often have no idea where their food comes from. They know what fruits and vegetables look like in supermarkets or grocery stores, but they rarely get to witness how things grow and develop. I think if they don’t understand how life happens, they won’t learn to respect life in the future.”
By introducing the children of different plants and how to take care of them, Sansan also managed to bring the community together. Credit: Sansan
Sansan quickly put this idea into practice, introducing children to things they might never have experienced before. She took them around the yard to explore the plants and vegetables she was growing, showed them where the chickens lived, and explained what it meant for chickens to roam freely, how they laid eggs, and how those eggs and freshly harvested vegetables could be prepared into meals. She also used the pizza oven she had built herself to let the children make their own food, using ingredients they had just collected from the yard.
First: Sansan built her own pizza oven on the left. | Second: a boy is learning about plants and vegetables in Sansan’s yard. Credit: Sansan
It was during this process that Sansan began looking at her yard and the “wild” garden she had created, wondering how else she could use the space to bring more people together and encourage them to appreciate nature, upon which human civilization has been built. Kombucha seemed like a good option. It was something she was already interested in, and the spontaneous nature of fermentation deeply fascinated her.
“Growing up in Qiandongnan, Guizhou, I was surrounded by all kinds of herbs, many of which were part of our everyday diet. When you think of lavender, you think of Provence, France. When you think of basil, you think of Italy. For me, when I see zhe’ergen (折耳根), I see Guizhou. I see home."
zhe’ergen, or Houttuynia cordata, is famous for its pungent fishy taste, the root on the right is usually consumed as a cold dish or dipping seasoning.
“I wanted to take the local herbs I had known and eaten all my life and explore how they could be used beyond seasoning food, particularly in drinks. Kombucha gave me that opportunity.”
Part Five: A Joint Effort
“You’re definitely opening a coffee shop!”
That was the unanimous response Sansan received when she told her friends about her plan to open a shop in the village. Before she could even get the word “kombucha” out, everyone had already made up their minds that a coffee shop would be the best option.
They weren’t wrong. If you search for travel advice on Guiyang, coffee shop recommendations appear in almost every guide. Guiyang’s coffee scene is well known for its creative specialty drinks (特调), and it’s not unusual to see people lining up outside popular cafés to place their orders.
Instead of trying to persuade people with words, Sansan decided to show them why kombucha made sense. When she started making her first batches two years ago, she didn’t have a clear standard for what made a good kombucha. She turned to whatever resources she could find, whether it was The Noma Guide to Fermentation or the experiences of other kombucha makers. In the end, Sansan was convicted to trust her own taste and share what she thought tasted good.
It was a smashing hit. Everyone who tried her kombucha loved it.
“I was lucky in a sense that people in Guizhou are very curious about food and drinks. They love trying new things and are open-minded about different flavors. Although most of them had probably never heard of kombucha before, once they tried it, they discovered for themselves that it was something they wanted to come back for.”
People came, and they came back, bringing their families, friends and even their dogs. They tried kombucha and chatted with Sansan, learning how kombucha was made and how she came to start making it.
Sansan’s crafting abilities can be seen in everyday life in the yard, and also through her Kombucha. Credit: Sansan
The yard was no longer Sansan’s alone. Her younger sister joined her to manage content, marketing and the daily operations of the shop. Other family members helped with maintaining the yard and harvesting plants. Most importantly, people from the local community in Guiyang began spending time there, sitting in the yard, touching and smelling the herbs, tasting kombucha and sharing their feedback.
Their involvement has encouraged Sansan to keep the brand going and continue improving it. She now has more to consider than her own interests, including the people who have become part of Nature Bites.
Part Six: Nature Bites Is Evolving, Just as I Am
In the late summer of Guiyang, I stood next to Sansan, admiring the trees in her yard. She showed me her giant fig tree, and I was lucky enough to spot a ripe fig. She picked it and handed it to me to taste. While I was still savoring its sweetness, Sansan led me to another part of the yard, where I found myself sitting in a hammock, eating walnuts that had fallen from the tree above. Beneath the hammock was a passage leading down to where the hens lived.
Every corner of the yard had been thoughtfully designed, with plenty of effort put into making it both comfortable and practical. Seeing how much Sansan had done with the space, I couldn’t help but wonder what she had in mind for the future of Nature Bites.
“After we opened our second store at AYDC, following the success of the previous fermentation gathering, our brand gained more exposure. We’ve grown so much thanks to customer feedback. We now have staple flavors that we keep making because they’re our customers’ favorites. But it’s in my nature to change and explore new things, and I want to stay as involved in the process as possible.”
First: The osmanthus flavored kombucha we tried during our visit and the ever-changing experiment of Sansan on the different recipes. | Second: Assorted flavours of kombucha.
Sansan is also using Nature Bites to put her belief in community connections into practice. She has been working with a local organic tea producer and a water supplier from Fanjing Mountain, and is planning to collaborate with sugar producers who use ecological farming practices. Step by step, she is bringing the same choices she makes in her personal life into the way she runs her business, while involving more people from the local community.
“Even though young people in many rural areas of China are leaving the countryside to pursue better opportunities in big cities, I think there is still so much potential in these places. Ultimately, we all depend on the land we live on, and I want to do my part in helping people recognize that.”
Sansan introducing kombucha and her brand to the new audience in AYDC in Guiyang City, bringing people to notice herbs and plants that can make kombucha look and taste great. Credit: AYDC & Sansan
When asked whether she wanted to commercialize Nature Bites and scale up production, Sansan quickly said no. She has no desire to become a “product manager,” even though her background and personal story could easily be used to promote the brand on social media and attract a much larger audience. As she said, the unpredictability of kombucha fermentation is something she finds magical and fascinating. Perhaps that is also what pushes her forward, to be excited for every batch, when the fizz rushes out of the bottle, a new world has opened in front of her.
A Tianjin, China native - Chloe has a deep appreciation for all things hotpot. Her appreciation of food and culture runs so deep that after a successful corporate career, she decided to uproot her life in China to attend Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa and Madrid. After working in the culinary industry in Canada, she decided to found Snout & Seek!
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