Meet Jane Guerra and Kristen Betancur of Broth Rx in Downtown Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jane Guerra and Kristen Betancur.

Jane and Kristen, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We created Broth RX during the 4 years we owned a Pilates/fitness studio in Redondo Beach. We met in college (UCLA), and we’ve always shared a passion for health and wellness. We love to experiment, so making bone broth for ourselves was fun!

Educating our fitness clients on the importance of nutrition had always been a key component in our approach to health, so naturally we began sampling the broths we were making at home and received lots of positive feedback. Soon clients and their friends were purchasing our broth. Back then we cooked out of a small shared kitchen space and were only packaging a few bags at a time. As the demand continued to grow we moved production to a private commercial kitchen in Downtown Los Angeles.

We are firm believers in a balanced approach to a healthy lifestyle. Health & vitality is so much more than how much you work out, it’s about paying attention, listening to your body, to what it’s telling you through the appearance of your skin, energy levels (or lack thereof), digestion of foods, quality of sleep and peace of mind.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It definitely has not. Something as simple as finding a private kitchen was a yearlong struggle. Our cooking process takes 24-48 hours depending on the broth, so a shared hourly space would never work.

Coming from the fitness industry we had to learn all about running and installing a commercial kitchen, permits and just the food industry in general. We have survived because of our passion for quality nourishing foods and supporting the local farms we source our animals from.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Broth Rx – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We make truly pasture raised chicken bone broth and grass-fed & grass-finished beef broth. We package our broths in single serve microwavable to-go containers (we prefer and recommend using a stove top). We want to make it easy for people to incorporate nutritious broth into their daily routines.

Our bone broths are very gelatinous. This is due to the high bone-to-water ratio. Therefore our broths contain a high level of collagen which is very healing for digestive organs, joints, and the immune system. This is an indicator of broth quality. Our broths are so gelatinous that at fridge temperature it can be held in your hand. We slow cook our broths at a low temperature, as to not damage the fats, for 24 hours (chicken) and 48 hours (beef). We juice and add a substantial amounts of other healing ingredients to some of our broths, such as ginger and turmeric. We use only organic roots and herbs.

What really sets us apart is that we use pastured raised chickens and grass-finished beef bones.

Pastured Poultry = chickens that live outside in a natural habitat (on grass, in the fresh air and sunshine with plenty of space to roam and forage). When the chickens are rotated to fresh pasture every single day, pasture-raised chicken is not only healthy and delicious but also goes beyond sustainability to rebuild healthy, regenerative soils and grasslands. The differences between our chicken and conventionally raised chicken are numerous. Our farms use the term “Always Outside” to note the fact that their chickens don’t just have ambiguous “access to pasture,” but actually live outside on pasture 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Instead of debeaking the chicks, our birds use their beaks and talons to peck and scratch for bugs, worms, grasses, seeds, and more. Instead of using antibiotics to fight disease within the flock, our farms use a healthy environment of pasture, sunshine, fresh air, and space to prevent sickness. Instead of marketing vegetarian-fed chicken (chickens are not vegetarians), we want chickens to eat as many bugs and worms as possible.

We source grass-fed & grass-finished bones for our beef broth. The animals eat organic clover and grass. They’re never subjected to artificial hormones, growth promotions or antibiotics. This means they never eat grains, corn, soy or other types of feed. Many times grass-fed animals are finished in feed lots where they eat other types of feed. Our farms place a high value on sustainable practices that promote biodiversity in their pastures.

We are proud to work with farms whose farming practices serve to regenerate the soil and therefore are good for the planet. Conventional farming methods have completely depleted the soil in the United States.

When in doubt always ask your farm if you can visit, we do! If a farm tells us we can’t visit, it’s for a reason.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Our vision is to share our broths with as many people as possible! We know that happiness starts with our health. We are in the works to get our broth in stores, so that’s very exciting! We are always working on perfecting flavors with our chef, we want to make nourishing your body delicious and convenient.

Pricing:

• 3 Pack Intro Offer $25 + FREE shipping
• Save 15% when you subscribe (6 pack or 12 packs)

Contact Info:

• Website: www.broth-rx.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @brothrx
• Facebook: @brothrx

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.