BRATTLEBORO — This time last year, Sarah Dal Balcon and Becca Dixon were running on a gut feeling when they decided to share with Vermonters a hot beverage made from the seed of the ojoche canopy tree.
Working with rural women in Nicaragua, Dal Balcon and Dixon started packaging Ojoche Tostado, selling mostly online through their company, Healing From Foods.
“A year ago we pretty much had nothing,” said Dixon.
Since then, mostly through word of mouth and some social media messaging, Healing From Foods ships the ground-up ojoche seed to customers across the United States, who steep it in hot water to produce a coffee-like drink with no caffeine and lots of nutrition.
Dixon says ojoche is a “superfood,” which means it is dense with nutrients. It’s a complete high-quality protein with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and is prebiotic and low glycemic.
“It’s a powerful seed with a tasty punch,” she said.
Dixon and Dal Balcon met while working at Garden Variety Cheese, a sheep dairy farm in Royal Oaks, California.
Dixon had marine biology in college and was milking sheep; Dal Balcon, who had a career as a chef, was making the cheese.
The pair ended up in Vermont because in the past they had visited Dixon’s cousin, David Major, who was making sheep cheese at Vermont Shepherd in Westminster West.
Before they started selling ojoche in the United States, Dixon and Dal Balcon formulated Happy Belly Tea to help Dal Balcon with chronic inflammation of the gut due to Crohn’s disease. The tea, which has its own following, said Dixon, contains chamomile, hawthorn leaf, peppermint, marshmallow root and thyme.
It was in Vermont where they would meet Ian Diamondstone, the owner of New Forest Organics, who introduced them to ojoche. Dixon and Dal Balcon had been looking for a coffee alternative, and from their first sip, knew they had found it.
While Happy Belly Tea is only available online, Ojoche Tostado can now be found at the Brattleboro Food Co-op, the Putney Food Co-op, the Littleton Food Co-op in Littleton, N.H., the Hannah Grimes Center and Soul Emporium in Keene, N.H., and the River Valley Co-op in Northampton, Mass.
“It’s grown really organically,” said Dal Balcon, which is fitting for a product that is grown sustainably in Central America.
The pair work directly with the women in Nicaragua. When they need an order, or just to check in, they pick up their phones and send a message.
Healing From Foods has set up shop in the Cotton Mill, the multi-level complex managed by the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation.
Dixon said finding affordable office space at Cotton Mill was only part of what BDCC offered them as a start-up business. Not only did they get a loan and a grant through the BDCC, they also worked with a business coach, Wink Faulkner of Spofford, N.H., who helped them set goals while dreaming big.
“It was important for us to have someone who could push us,” said Dal Balcon.
“He told us to be smart but follow your gut, your intuition,” said Dixon.
They’ve been building a customer base, mostly through word of mouth, but hope to ramp up marketing soon.
“We don’t even know how some of the people have heard about us,” said Dal Balcon. “It’s like the universe is directing them here.”
And those people are spreading the word ... and the ojoche, she said.
“We have some people who order six or eight bags at a time and disperse them to their friends.”
The River Valley Co-op was the first retail outlet to offer Ojoche Tostado after the co-op’s manager stopped in to Hazel Restaurant on Elliot Street and had a cup. This was all pre-pandemic, said Dal Balcon, who just happened to be waiting tables that night, sparking a conversation with the manager of the co-op.
Dixon and Dal Balcon are working on a new tea blend, one that helps reduce stress and aids those who find it hard to fall asleep.
“I’ve been calling it my Covid Tea, or 2020 Tea,” said Dal Balcon, followed by a laugh.
They also want to experiment with different, lighter roasts of ojoche.
“A light or medium roast is more like hot chocolate,” said Dixon, who says ojoche could also be used as a protein powder that could be added to food and drinks.
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December 04, 2020 at 09:00PM
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Ojoche ... 'A powerful seed with a tasty punch' - Brattleboro Reformer
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