 It's Thursday afternoon four o'clock. That means it's time for another episode of Hawaii food and farmers series I'm your co-host and very happy to have my co-host back again. Justina spirit to thank you so much for coming back from wherever You've been don't ever leave me again We are a white food and farmer series here to talk to Hawaii's farmers chefs and foodies that are making an impact in Hawaii's local food System but every now and then we like to expand beyond the boundaries of Hawaii and that's what we're doing today If you want to go ahead and join the conversation You're able to tweet in at at think tech hi And you can actually even call in now with our hotline number right here listed at the bottom of the screen So we really would like to hear from you Please join the conversation and with that I'm just going to hand it over to justine And I'm just going to hang out for the rest of the show awesome Thanks for that introduction. I'm really happy to be back and I was in California Absolutely not on vacation doing a lot of work and research and I'm really excited to say I found a Great couple that I wanted to feature on the show. They are living in San Francisco Their name is Rika and Chris Kwan and so they are with churn urban creamery So to give a little bit of background they'll get into it. We have them actually with us on Skype But before we bring them on Rika is has a background in design and was inspired to take a permaculture course which led her to start an urban farm in her backyard in San Francisco and Motivated to kind of take things further. They brainstorm some products that as a family unit they could grow ingredients for and Then start a business and so they came to ice cream. And so really excited I was able to join them at a pop-up event pop-up event in San Francisco and I was able to take a brief interview with them. So we're gonna play that now So what's kind of interesting about ice cream to me is that most people have their favorites that are kind of classic Like vanilla or mint chocolate chip So if you can kind of talk about If you are using the products you're growing in the backyard How does what kind of flavors you guys have and how does seasonality kind of affect that? We have a lot of regular Regular flavors So creme brulee, roast banana pudding, and deep dark cocoa and some of those I'm not necessarily grown by us because they can't be like bananas don't grow in San Francisco unfortunately But those are the flavors that get people here. And then once I get them here I have them try more seasonal flavors like right now. We have farmers blueberry squirrel So blueberry season is about to be over and this is probably the last time we're serving this Also strawberries and cream is seasonal. There's other flavors like plums that I'm using Mint does not have a season. So that's something that I use all the time Okay, and then so there are some flavors that are throughout the year and some just are periodic And so I'm kind of curious of are most your customers friends and locals or do you have a lot of tourists that? Yeah, what's kind of that ratio? I think that most of our customers are locals touristy no because the area we serve at most of the time Not many tourists come here Unless they have any real friends. So yeah, we serve a lot of people in our neighborhood And we have a lot of people who come back and eat our eggs. We love our eggs Do you see Educating people at all have you has your business and your product being able to educate them on kind of seasonality? And what grows in San Francisco if you guys are kind of always doing this in urban settings What's kind of been the reaction when people are eating ice cream with? different spices or What's another unique kind of experimental one you guys have used people are really surprised that we can grow Here in San Francisco, which is Which is not not really so far fetched because we have soil we have sun just a little bit of amendment will do We play with with a lot of herbal flavor flavors that do really well here and rosemary olive oil is one It does really well. I'm going to show you how that looks like Yeah, and how did you how did you come up with that because I would never think to pair those together I like to play with savory. So rosemary olive oil is Usually something used with chicken and bread and I like to put a twist in it and make it sweet So people have been really reacting to it. So people hate it It took a little bit to perfect it recipe to make it And rosemary is grown in our own backyard and olive oil is from Central, California. So also very local Okay So what are some of the challenges as a small local food Enterprise here in San Francisco. There's some challenges for any entrepreneur, but especially with what we do Growing your own food and selling it to the masses comes with some issues There are governmental agencies that support that in San Francisco, but there are government agencies that don't support that So this is going to be a conversation that we're going to be having the next few years and may come up with some issues But we're ready to face them because we feel very strongly about Helping people learn about growing your own food and growing your own ingredients I think just a nation of people like to grow their own food and they want what they want local foods That's another big thing that's going on right now this day and age So do you do these kind of questions come up? These ideas of local food or maybe these policies of helping small businesses or small farmers Are you guys having those conversations with customers? Yes all the time people have so many questions about permits and What's allowed? What's not allowed and how long we've been growing so and my favorite Conversations to have are people that are already growing food in the neighborhood and what they're growing and comparing notes Yeah, I mean that's great because if it was just a normal ice cream kind of sand those things don't kind of come up So it's awesome that you guys have this product in this business The kind of start those conversations with people and if you can kind of talk about as a startup Where you guys are are putting out your product to folks. How do you guys get it out there? And We do pop-ups right now. We don't sell any stores yet That's a different kind of permit as well We do pack pints and we deliver So that's kind of everything's very small batch So I make it that week and I sell it that week and if I was to sell it to a store That would I couldn't make it small batch and they couldn't make it more personal and it would be it would be a whole different product It would get watered down Seasonality would just go down the drain So this is the best way for me to share this love of growing and farming seasonality with the people by staying small And if you want to mention some of the other again, just the local other local producers that you're working with Yeah, with your ice cream little city gardens is a place that I volunteer at Very dear to my heart and they supply our mint and they're the only the only commercial farm in San Francisco And also we get all our milk and cream from Petaluma. So clover cream and straws milk And what else? I've got a lot of farmers markets there central valley as well You know, so we get a lot of our fruits there that we can grow there are still growing in our yard. Okay, cool The strawberries are from Watsonville. They're from Rodriguez farms Farmer's market we have a good relationship with them and a lot of people were reaching out to us You know, so I think the more connection we find make easier for us Yeah, then people start finding you guys Lemon we do them if we have a lot of lemons that as well lemon trees are all over the place, you know Awesome great. Well, it's just great to see you know what comes from just starting your own garden and where people take it So it's super exciting to see what you guys are doing. Thank you. Thanks a lot. Thank you. I appreciate it Yay, so that was sort of a fun impromptu interview cool video. Yeah, thanks practicing my video Yeah, yeah, and so we're actually Skype being Chris and Rika in From San Francisco to kind of follow up on some of those things we touched them on so welcome our first Skype experience Thank you so much for joining us. So let's you think so let's kind of start with how you guys I mean, how do you guys describe your product and kind of distinguish it from just generic ice cream? And you know, what do you kind of share that kind of explains why your product is unique? So we make small batch ice cream Farm fresh and we sell that pop-ups Pop-ups are mostly on weekends and sometimes on weekdays and we also deliver straight to your door Some of the most popular flavors we have are Crème brûlée and roasted banana pudding which are fan favorites Some unique flavors. We have rosemary olive oil, which is dairy-free lemon thyme dairy-free as well and we do have a couple special other ones which are a chai chocolate cardamom Very unique Yeah, and so you guys completely is it Rika. Are you just making up these flavors or is this a collaborative part the the recipes? I'm the creative half So a lot of the flavors are from my knock in But Chris and I do a lot of research together So he gives me input on what flavors he likes and what what other ingredients I can put in there Rika, you mentioned that you have a designer background Chris. I didn't hear what was your background? I'm a travel agent. Oh, okay. And so it's interesting Rika. You're talking about that designer perspective That's a new thing that I guess we were some of the farms that we work with we're starting to think more about marketing and branding and really seeing the Importance with that so that's interesting with you is kind of having that creative background the designer background I know kind of coming back in and Creating this unique Niche product. How do you think that has helped you and do you think that could be useful for for other farms that you're working with? Yeah, well, I have 10 years in fashion and I know about retail and I know about consumer thinking and strategies to sell to consumers and I think you have to think at What your consumer likes? Aesthetics see what's trendy out there and everything from your marketing along to Your ingredients and your product have to abide by those rules Cool, so let's get into okay. Can you? Explain or kind of describe a beach cottage urban farm. It's kind of like two different enterprises You're running here So if you could talk a little bit about the farm what you guys have growing there in general and then specifically what you're growing for the ice cream Yeah, so beach cottage urban farm is our own backyard. So we live in the Sunset District of San Francisco and Our home is about 300 square feet and the backyard is 1500 square feet. Oh, wow So it's it's all backyard and that's why we call it beach cottage urban farm. Okay, so you can imagine the soil is very sandy So there we grow for the business a lot of herbs like rosemary time mint and We've also put in some fruit trees like figs pomegranates and plums And then but some of the fruit trees though since you haven't been able have you had any harvest from those That go into the ice cream yet or is that? In the yeah, the fruit trees are still in the very young stage. So they're not fruiting quite yet And then we put actually more fruit trees in our extension farm, which is in a ranch in Pacifica, California And the soil there is much better for fruit trees as well Okay, and then so in addition to what you're growing I'm not even sure what other ingredients go into ice cream So I'm curious of you mentioned some in the in the in the video some ingredients you get from an outside source and I'm curious to kind of hear your Criteria of who and where you source from So we get strawberries from Rodriguez farms whom is based in Watsonville, California We also get blueberries from triple delight berry farm, which is their base in Fresno Can you give us a little idea of that that distance from you guys? Both of those farms are under 200 miles from San Francisco, and then are they? Delivering to you guys directly. How how do you actually get those ingredients? No No, I actually go to the farmers market myself Oh, okay, and I build relationships with those farmers and the people that work for the farmers and I think that's a really important part of what I do is the relationships So then are you like putting your order in? I had a time before the farmers markets And then they're bringing that to you at the the market. Is that no that would probably be smarter I Like to touch and feel and smell all the fruit and I like to be I like to create The flavors from what I see from the farmers market. So I don't exactly Have an idea of what I'm getting sometimes. I just go there and see what's in season Okay, well, that's interesting especially for us one of the major issues This is whole distribution issue and you know if farmers are delivering to you or you need to go and drive all those kind of like Food miles, so it's great that you've kind of cut that if your orders are small enough that you know that your Supply is going to be there that cuts out that whole kind of extra miles that you guys might be Driving so then again, do you how do you guys? Well? I guess you're just going to the farmers market So do you have any other criteria? I mean, is that the criteria that you're only going to work with people? You find at the farmers market or Chris you mentioned in the video that some people kind of reach out to you guys They do We work in a commercial kitchen We're currently out right now and we've made relationships with people and they've introduced us to people that Combine us with ingredients as well Wow, that's the amazing beauty of these like commercial spaces are kind of like community hubs Well, we're going to take a quick break a quick one-minute break and then we're going to get right back into it I'm Jay Fidel and I'm the host of research in Manoa Mondays from 12 to 1 on think tecawaii.com take a look at us and learn about Geophysics learn about planetology learn about the ocean and earth sciences at UH Manoa. You'll really enjoy it So come around we'll see you then Aloha everyone I'm Maria Mera and I'm here to invite you to my bilingual so Viva Hawaii every other Monday at 3 p.m We are here to show you news issues and events local and around the world join me Aloha, how you doing? Welcome to you by to talk. I'm here guard. Oh the techs are on think tec Hawaii, I'm here with my good old buddy, Andrew the security guy. Hey everybody. How you doing? Aloha, good to have you good to have Andrew here in the house Please join us every Friday from 1 to 130 and follow us up on YouTube and remember as we say at the end of every show How are you doing? Aloha and welcome back to your favorite part of your Thursday afternoon Hawaii food and farmer series I'm your co-host to see any spirits you this is my co-host Matthew Johnson today. We have Rika and Chris from churn urban creamery Skyping in from San Francisco going across the ocean Thank you guys for joining us. Yeah guys, so we were right before we went out to the break You kind of mentioned you've made a lot of or some connections from the commercial kitchen you guys work out of So I'm a little bit curious too of where that commercial kitchen is in comparison to where you guys are located and if you could Just throw out a couple of the the folks you have met there if that if they're fruit Farmer if they're farmers or they value added producers if you kind of explain that because I'm a little curious Yeah, the commercial farm. I'm sorry the commercial kitchen is Within 10 miles of our home. So it's in daily city. It's right next to San Francisco And we have a lot of connections there like Chris said one of them is a man that makes jams and marmalades And he's the one that's really led me to a lot of the farmers that I have relationships with now Oh Cool, that's awesome. Yeah, it's interesting because we're you know, justine you're actually working on a similar project I don't know if she told you about that, but we're working out of a food hub here in Honolulu and Interestingly enough so the whole thing is I run a company called a waho fresh we do like CSA and farm distribution type stuff and we're trying to bring in other tenants and to share The space as well and interestingly enough somebody showed up today from cold fry and They're actually an ice cream Company as well using local ingredients. So quite Ironic that that kind of happened today and they're meeting you guys today on Skype. So yeah, very curious to hear more about Just how that community around local food is working because that's something we're trying to develop So that sounds like something you guys have already doing so that's fantastic I do you know, we're always learning though Awesome, and how long you guys been in doing this again the whole churn how long has churn been around? We've been around since April 2nd a little bit longer than that, but we launched on April 2nd April of this year of this year. Oh, okay, so very new. Yeah Really quickly. Does this ice cream folks the cold fry? Do they have vegan options? I don't know I just met them. Actually, I didn't really even meet him today. Lauren was talking to him So I have a lot to find out about him because I was extremely impressed with churn You guys at each of your events actually have a vegan option. Is that correct? Yes, and that came about have one or two. Did you all did you initiate that from the beginning or is that kind of based on customer feedback? No, always from the beginning. We always like to eat healthy and I'm not sure if vegan ice cream is that healthy But it's a little bit less fat Our ice cream is healthy. I eat it every night And you guys look great And so again for the the vegan options, it's it's coconut coconut milk coconut juice What's the what's the ingredients coconut milk and coconut cream? And we have some even uh water based flavors like the sorbets or water bays and our deep dark cocoa Which is um all chocolate and water. Yeah What about that bacon one? Did you guys make that for Erica? What bacon ice cream? What is it praline bacon? Praline bacon Yeah, that was inspired by a trip to norland. Okay. They love bacon over there. Yeah Okay, and I'm curious too. So you guys really have this it's I think it's more than a garden It really is kind of is an urban farm back there in your backyard But when I think of urban farm too, I think of animals and you guys don't have animals, but you have Relationship with animals at this spot in pedal luma. Could you kind of talk about that? It's your relationship with the it's a dairy farm or Explained. Yeah, so we source all our dairy From pedal luma. There's two companies there clover cream and Strauss creamery and the animals you're speaking of our cows obviously And um at our extension in the ranch in pacifica We also have it's it's the pets of the area, but it's there's a pig and a goat And there's lots of horses Okay, is that where you get your bacon from? Oh, okay, I think they said they were pets Okay, and then so those dairy farms the the dairies the dairies you're talking about are not particularly It's not necessarily like a small dairy. It's just like the dairy that's there Yeah, it's a local dairy farm both of those farms And they're very popular in san francisco and a lot of food businesses use them actually Okay, so chris and we can talk a little bit about how how have your customers I guess that you're going out to different pop-ups and doing these events. How has the reaction been or I mean are people just lining up like outside the door. Are you feeling overwhelmed? Is it and what's What's how are you guys feeling right now? Because you've just been in business now for what four months not even so I mean, how how do you guys feel? It's pretty exciting Sometimes the people come in waves, you know depending on where we're at where we're set up If we're inside or outside And you know people see us or we do have a lot of regulars Um people order for delivery, which is great. Um, but yeah, I mean it's been really fun Entirely I'm exhausted Um with the delivery element. Is that something that was always in place or is that something you guys came up with? You know, if you if you have an event that you don't Sell out at and then that's a happy-looking customer How did the how did the like door? I mean basically it's almost like a ice cream csa. How did that idea kind of come up? Yes, delivery is really popular in san francisco and new york And any kind of food is delivered. So I thought why not ice cream? Okay, we personally eat ice cream in the evenings Watching that flakes or and so on And I think it would be perfect for that uh-huh cool, um So if you guys have any thoughts about like actually like packaging it and then eventually having this available In stores, is that something that you guys have Thought about spoken about is that even possible with the kind of product that you're doing? People are always asking us this question um How do I put it the product changes once you make it in a really mass quantities And I think that's why people like us It's it tastes different because it's made that week Made in very small batches And I think it tastes better that way So no to answer your question Maybe in five to ten years, but the next five years, this is how we're going to be doing it We'll keep pushing our card everywhere we go I'm just trying to get some of this ice cream here And then it is worth noting that the packaging you do use for your deliveries that is um What's the word is it compostable or biodegradable? Which one yeah compostable everything And we actually started using real spoons for our semi-permanent pop-up a lot on trading posts Just because we can wash those and we're not Collecting more trash Right, so sustainability is so you're using silverware instead of disposable utensils. Exactly And people are actually really reacting to that I accidentally stole one actually when the last time I saw you guys I like wash off into like the art gallery with it. I think Erica has it And so I'm curious is this the process you guys do is it more difficult than large than your generic ice cream? And is it more expensive as a business if you can kind of take this moment to like elaborate to viewers The work that goes into like small batch does the small batch mean small effort or Oh Small batch actually means more work It's more time consuming So I make a batter day one I let it sit overnight and then day two I will churn it So every batter takes two days. Is it your your hand churning? Just like turning in a big we're not hand churning. Oh, okay. It is 2016 A small batch machine and the capacity is up to eight quarts I got to confuse with our Amish guests We have So then if if you're doing that for like five different flavors for your event on saturday That means you're doing that two days for each of the five different flavors Yeah, yeah, exactly. So I focus on the batters I'll make them a day prior and then the next day chris comes and he'll churn it And then I make more batter while he's churning. Okay, cool dream team Well, it looks like we just have a minute left Um, really quickly. Do you want to talk about your next event coming up? Yeah, so this saturday will be at public bikes on hay street For the pause and pedals event So there'll be dogs there and you can meet chomper sacourgy Dog portraits and a raffle to benefit local animal shelters. I love you guys pictures. That is our dog too. That's our dog Bailey Oh, hey Happiest dog ever sunday. We'll be at four barrel at the alley from 11 to 3 we'll be doing affogados And our ice cream. What's affogados? Affogados are ice cream with espresso All right, well, we're a little disappointed that you couldn't be in the studio because usually now our guests like bring their treats, so Whatever, but um, all right. Well, I think we're out of time Thank you so much for letting us experiment with the skype with you. Thanks for sharing your story. Thanks guys. Yeah, we really appreciate it Thank you