Hidden Gems: Meet George W Cranford IV of ApotheCulture

Today we’d like to introduce you to George W Cranford IV.

Hi George W, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I first came up with the idea back in 2013 to infuse exotic, nutrient-dense ingredients into a lunch menu for a food truck concept I called “Apothecarie Foods”. A friend and mentor at the time asked me if I really wanted to work in a food truck and I thought, nope! So I put the entire project on the back burner for 8 years, quietly researching, fermenting, and experimenting with many of the ingredients I would later use to refine and perfect our recipes. In August of 2021, at the height of Covid, I realized that the time was ripe to water that 8 year-old seed, in the form of a brand that could offer deeply flavorful and nutritious alternatives to many of the foods we know and love. For the next year, I worked on building and refining the line of nutrient-dense bone broths, sauerkrauts, fermented tonics, and other favorites that have become regular household staples throughout LA. After 2 1/2 years in farmers markets, we’re continuing to grow into retail and have our sights set on expanding our online presence.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh yeah, there have definitely been obstacles. I still face them every week. Right now our mainstay is farmers markets, and it’s still the best outfacing exposure to our brand for bringing in new customers because they get to sample all of the products on the spot. When I was first developing the brand while living in Echo Park, I was denied admission as a vendor into the local farmers market despite being a local resident. And there was nothing like what I was doing there, so that was really frustrating. But I kept on the path and eventually started up a couple months later in Brentwood, Larchmont Village, and Sherman Oaks. But there is still a lot of bureaucracy with these markets, so it’s difficult to expand into other locales on the ground floor even though there’s still nothing quite like what we do.

But that’s why I’m expanding into more retail and e-commerce, because we’re only limited by our production and marketing capacity. Of course, those also come with their own set of challenges, particularly with scaling production, but we’ve got such strong word-of-mouth marketing from our current customer base, I’m truly honored by the continued response we have in our farmers market and current retail outlets.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
The concept in itself is simple: we make nutrient-rich foods using traditional methods and recipes from around the world. At least half of our line is comprised of traditionally cultured and fermented foods, which we prize for their probiotic content and bio-availability. The other half, not including the grain-free pancake mix, is our animal-based, nutrient-dense foods like bone broth and beef tallow products. For a long time, I’ve also been inspired by 19th century French apothecary and perfume labels as well as the ancient mysteries and esoterica, so the company ethos is infused with a bit of both.

Of course there are other companies making products similar to ours, but the difference is the kind of global inspiration we pull from, the traditional methods we use, and most importantly, the flavor. For instance, there’s a lot of bone broth out there. I’ve had a lot of it, and plenty of it is just okay. But as a foodie myself, I prefer to buy foods that are not only nourishing and supportive, but the flavor also blows me away. That’s what we aim for, and I’m so grateful that we have developed such a strong and loyal core audience that comes to the farmers markets every week to stock up on our products.

Our big push for the fall is expanding our retail and local delivery presence. Currently, we’re in two gourmet markets, Canyon Gourmet in Topanga, and Moody Market and Provisions in Westlake Village, but we’re working to add our line to the west side and other parts of LA. And because we have such a wide array of products, we are going to be launching a pilot program to deliver customizable subscription boxes on a weekly basis, sort of bringing the farmers market experience home to the consumer.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
Looking back, and especially now, I have so many supporters. My mom has been a huge advocate, for one, and she’s been changed by the products themselves. She used to have gut issues and arthritis in her hands, and those are both gone. She’s lives locally, so every week or so we meet up so I can hand off her regular 2 quarts of bone broth, Liquid Gold fire cider, and a couple bottles of jun kombucha.

My team has also been instrumental, as this experiment has quickly grown much bigger than me. Many of them were friends first, so we all have personal relationships and many common interests that keep us all invested in the greater movement of holistic health and well-being. Personal shoutouts to Brenda, Jenny, Lyla, Bradley, David, Jana, and Brayden, who are always up to put in the long hours at the kitchen and the farmers markets and help out whenever we have events around LA.

I also have to give credit to my previous business partner Adam for putting a fire under my ass to get the ball rolling, helping to procure all our licenses and finalize the recipes and packaging to make our entry into the local marketplace. I probably could’ve done it alone, but it would’ve taken much longer admittedly, and his Capricorn energy kept us moving steadily throughout that first year to ensure we had everything together to make it official.

Pricing:

• “Chinese Master Stock” Bone Broth – $14/16oz, $25/32oz
• “Liquid Gold” Fire Cider – $20/8oz, $34/16oz
• Jun Kombucha, various flavors – $10/16oz, $18/32oz, $33/64oz
• Sauerkraut, “Roots” and “Sol y Tierra” – $16/16oz
• Cultured Ketchup – $12/8oz

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ApotheCulture.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apotheculture.foods
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ApotheCultureFoods/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-w-cranford-iv/

Image Credits
Portrait by Erik Munera, all others by myself