Pictured: Mike and Julia Harding in the garden that inspired their business, Mint Condition.
Shirley le Guern meets the couple behind Mint Condition Deli Products.
When the Covid-19 pandemic catapulted them out of the corporate world, Julia and Mike Harding looked no further than their own Waterfall garden for ingredients to make delicious and healthy snacks and condiments that could be sold from local markets.
The couple’s homely Waterfall cottage is populated with a huge collection of cookery books and two contented rescue cats, and surrounded by a wonderful wild garden filled with herbs and fruit trees such as litchis, bananas, tamarillos, Chinese guavas, ruby and white grapefruit, lemons and peaches.
It is here that Mint Condition Deli Products was born, and from where the homegrown recipes for a range of products that include biltong and dry wors, marmalade, a basil and a rocket pesto, roasted courgette and chickpea hummus, red and green harissa paste and dehydrated mushrooms and pineapple originate.
These contain no preservatives, artificial flavourants or colouring. Lemon juice and olive oil ensure that they stay fresh for three weeks in the fridge. All are packaged in reusable and recyclable glass.
The couple drew on their passion for food and their experience in the business and hospitality sectors to start their own business, they are buying freshly harvested vegetables from a nearby farmer and working closely with experts to grow their range to include food-based health remedies.
Their own research and experience have confirmed the importance of restoring good gut health which, they point out, is at the root of a number of modern-day ailments. “Without a healthy gut lining, it is difficult for the body to absorb the important vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants that it needs,” Mike explains.
One of the Mint Condition products that has raised a great deal of interest is kombucha, an effervescent tea that is rich in probiotics and has been used by the Chinese, Japanese and Russians for centuries. They both enjoy a 200ml glass of Kombucha every day and believe that it has not only restored their own gut health but boosted their energy and even relieved the chronic eczema from which Julia has suffered for most of her life.
Another is kimchi, a fermented cabbage-based relish that harnesses the same good bacteria (lactobacilli) found in yogurt and other fermented dairy products. In addition to Chinese cabbage, this Korean recipe includes white radish, carrot, fresh ginger, fresh garlic and onion (which are antibacterial) and fresh chilli which is packed with vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant and immune system booster. “We eat kimchi with anything and everything, it’s so delicious. There is no way I would sell something that I’m not 100% sure of,” Mike stresses.
Julia explains that one of their greatest challenges right now is that they have to sell their preservative free products close to home, as courier companies are not prepared to guarantee that they will remain refrigerated throughout transportation and they are not prepared to compromise on safety. As a result, they are selling via a number of markets and directly supplying a growing number of loyal customers who order ahead for collection via their WhatsApp group or Facebook page.
They are also developing new products. “We do tasters at all markets. Julia makes a cheese and mustard biscuit for this. Now, in response to requests from people at our markets, we are making and selling these too,” Mike says.
They are also growing their range of dehydrated fruits and vegetables which, “based on my own sensitivity to preservatives, will include nothing potentially harmful,” says Mike.
“Covid brought people together. People are now supporting local. Things have been tough but it was also a blessing as it pushed us to do something about which we are both passionate. So, it is a case of onward and upward. We are looking for new markets and outlets all the time,” Julia notes. *
FOR MORE INFO
- info@mintconditionfoods.co.za
- 082 929 6694
- FB: @mintconditionfoods