A story of taste

At the beginning

Laurent, the artisan behind Fermentierra

My path has not been a conventional one. Travel, music, vegetarian cooking, craft brewing and wood-fired bread in rural France shaped the way I learn: observe, try and understand through practice.

Then I realised that fermentation was the thread running through the whole journey. Its balance of simplicity and power fascinated me: create the right conditions, observe what happens and leave room for the unexpected.

Fermentation is a language of living things, both practical and poetic.

I founded Fermentierra in French-speaking Switzerland with a simple intention: to share this passion in an accessible way and introduce more people to a craft that remains too little known.

For more than five years, the adventure has grown through artisan production, recipe and process development, training, encounters and collaborations with professionals.

Living systems are remarkably flexible. Once the mechanisms are understood, the technique can adapt to each person, making it possible to move beyond recipes, adjust, correct and invent.

That is also Fermentierra: a way to produce, learn and explore the limits of curiosity.

— Laurent Cornu, founder of Fermentierra

How we work

Letting time do its work

Fermentierra was not created to make a fixed product range.

We love recipes that travel, techniques passed down through generations and encounters between food cultures. Kimchi, sauerkraut, brined vegetables, condiments or freer creations: every tradition is a starting point rather than a boundary.

The seasons also play their part. An especially beautiful vegetable, a plentiful harvest or an unexpected pairing can give birth to a new recipe.

This freedom always rests on the same foundations: excellent ingredients, a precise understanding of fermentation and close attention.