Specialties
Shared Cultures is a small-batch, farm-to-ferment company in the Bay Area using traditional koji fermentation to create miso, shoyu, and umami-rich seasonings with a Northern California twist. We handcraft every batch in San Francisco using locally grown and foraged ingredients, and our products are trusted by Michelin-starred and fine dining restaurants as specialty ingredients. We also share this craft with home cooks through hands-on fermentation workshops and tastings, and you can visit our website to shop, sign up for our newsletter, or follow us on Instagram to find out where we’ll pop up next.
History
Established in 2020.
Shared Cultures started when we began foraging more mushrooms than we could cook, which pushed us to explore fermentation as a way to preserve and truly honor those ingredients. What began as late-night experiments with koji in a small home kitchen grew into a small-batch, farm-to-ferment company where we connect our cultural food history with Northern California’s farms and forests—sourcing seasonally, like chefs, and sharing that curiosity and flavor through jars on the shelf and hands-on workshops.
Meet the Business Owner: Eleana H.
Eleana Hsu started Shared Cultures with zero professional kitchen experience and a lot of curiosity. She fell in love with mushroom foraging, then taught herself fermentation as a way to preserve the seasonal bounty she was bringing home. What began as late-night experiments with koji in a second bedroom slowly turned into a small-batch, farm-to-ferment company serving both home cooks and chefs. As a Chinese American founder born and raised in San Francisco, Eleana connects her own food history with Northern California’s farms and forests, focusing on seasonal sourcing, sustainability, and making fermentation feel approachable—not intimidating—for everyone.
