Sauerkraut has won a wide following in recent years for its rich supply of vitamins, fiber and probiotics that improve digestive health. And Sharon Juraszek, the founder of Fermentlicious, is an evangelist for the power of cabbage.

Her products are made with raw, unpasteurized organic ingredients that ferment for four weeks. Flavors include The Healer, which includes ginger and turmeric; Curry Love, made with Indian spices; and Sacred Seed, flavored with fennel seeds. 

Juraszek chants while preparing batches of kraut and plays “high-vibrational” music to inspire fermentation. When she visits stores that stock her products, she chats with the bottles on the shelves. “I have a loving relationship with it,” Juraszek says. “It’s all about ceremony.”

Juraszek began making sauerkraut at home years ago. A former regional manager for Tommy Bahama’s retail sector in California and Florida, she got into fermentation to deal with health struggles, and later began sharing batches with friends from yoga and meditation classes. Now she’s selling to strangers at shops like CROP Juice, Morton’s Gourmet Market, Lucky’s Market and Earth Fare, and at the downtown Sarasota Farmers Market. Even a handful of restaurants (Lila is one) are offering her kraut.

For Juraszek, fermented foods are healing. “It’s all about food as medicine,” she says.