About us
We do things differently.
Most tempeh in the world is fermented in plastic. We ferment in stainless steel, allowing the mycelium to form thick, fluffy layers as nature intended.
We believe tempeh should be a staple food—it’s sustainable, easy to cook, and packed with protein, probiotics, prebiotics, minerals and soluble fiber. It makes beans more digestible because they have been pre-digested and broken down by the mycelium.
From the beginning, our tempeh has been all organic, and we have run the company in the most environmentally friendly ways possible. Inspired by Gunter Pfaff’s water bath incubation method, Katherine switched over to using this technology after she joined the operation, being delighted with the results.
John, dedicated tempehst and vegan of many years
Our Story
Back in 2009, Katherine Fleissner, who was running a wholesale vegan pastry company near New York City, met Jessica Childs, who was making and selling fresh, fluffy tempeh out of her Brooklyn apartment, after learning how to do this at the then-thriving Natural Gourmet Institute. Katherine fell in love with this thick, vital cousin of the pasteurized, vacuum-sealed tempeh found readily in any health food store. In the back of her mind she thought “making tempeh seems like an even more satisfying form of ‘right livelihood’ than making holistic vegan pastries (even if they are stellar AF), because it is something cruelty-free that one can eat for literally any meal of any day.” A little seed was planted in her mind.
Then fatefully, five years later, both of these women happened to move within a mile of each other in the foothills of the Catskill mountains! Jessica founded a new incarnation of the tempeh business in 2017, called Tempeh North, and Katherine ended up partnering with her, before she took over the reigns entirely the following year, and then Hudson Valley Tempeh was born.
Watch this video to see Jessica making tempeh from back in the day.
You can even try to make some at home using her instructions! (Jessica is using the plastic bag method.)