EarthKosher has the unique lens of discovering fresh new innovative companies, that shine from the inside out. Fresh Origins is one of these companies. Fresh Origins combines the sustainability, green thumb skill with a perfectionist eye and highest quality outcome. It’s hard to imagine the creativity and detail, Fresh Origin puts into each package of Flower or Herb Crystals- all naturally beautiful and all with EarthKosher, kosher certification.
Combining the benefits our great weather with a deep passion for quality and innovation, Fresh Origins has become the number one source of MicroGreens and Edible Flowers to America’s top restaurants and resorts. The farm was founded by David Sasuga, after growing flowering plants for 20 years. David always wanted to grow fresh produce and the opportunity came unexpectedly. Back in 1995, a local chef came to our greenhouse and got excited when he saw some basil seedlings growing there. He wanted to try using them to accent his plate presentations and although it did not make a lot of sense at the time, it was then that David began producing these and other varieties of tiny, fresh-cut seedlings destined for restaurants in Orange County California. Fresh Origins has come a long way since then, and David and his family produce a wide variety of MicroGreens, Petite™Greens, Edible Flowers, and related items for chefs throughout North America.
David Sasuga and daughter Kelly, of Fresh Origins
Fresh Origins’ MicroGreens have exceptional color, are bursting with flavor and have outstanding keeping quality due to the care and attention we give to our growing, harvesting and packing methods. These MicroGreens are hand harvested daily to order, at the peak of freshness. With Fresh Origins, there is no reason to settle for those lower quality locally grown, stringy Micro-Greens that lack color and flavor, and go bad after just a few days.
EarthKosher is proud to provide kosher certification for Fresh Origins unique Herb Crystals® and Flower Crystals®. These products are as beautiful to look at as they are to enjoy.
At Fresh Origins, innovation is a way of life. We are continually working to imagine and develop the latest ideas in MicroGreens and edible flowers. Our innovative Herb Crystals® and Flower Crystals® are gaining in popularity with chefs, Mixologists and Chocolatiers. We have several products in development and introduce these new ideas regularly. Our product list is extensive with over 400 items, most are available all year.
EarthKosher Kosher Certified Herb Crystals® and Flower Crystals®
Herb Crystals® and Flower Crystals® are an innovative original concept from Fresh Origins! With dazzling, all-natural colors, an exciting crunch and incredible flavors of fresh flowers and herbs, these are spectacular new flavor ingredients. The pure color and flavor comes only from the fresh whole herbs and flowers with no added flavors or coloring! All are Kosher Certified. We start by growing the most flavorful fresh herbs, and edible flowers. These are carefully hand harvested at the peak of flavor and color content, then combined with pure cane sugar to create these beautiful and flavorful crystals. These taste amazing and will add an enticing and distinctive finishing touch to any culinary creation from desserts to savory dishes and even beverages. They are shelf stable and are best used before 6 months. They can be frozen for longer shelf-life. Very versatile and easy to use. Sprinkle on some magic!
These crispy granules with their concentrated flavors can be dissolved in any cocktail for a touch of garden fresh taste. They can even be used alone as a kind of instant, all natural “cocktail mixer”: Just mix Crystals with components such as water and vodka to create an amazing drink! Another application is to toss the Crystals into a poured cocktail for the ultimate finishing touch with a sparkling dazzle of color and flavor at the bottom of the glass adding dimension and texture to be savored in the last sip! Of course these flavorful Crystals can be used to brighten up salads, pair well as ingredients for savory dishes, soups, add crunchy flavor to fruit, pastries and other desserts such as sorbet, yogurt and chocolates. No added colors, flavors or preservatives. For Sweetening Tea: These colorful, flavorful Crystals dissolve readily in tea. Sweeten tea in a distinctive and delicious new way.
Our farm is certified for food safety by Primus Labs and we are a signatory to the California Leafy Green Handler Marketing Agreement. Fresh Origins is a small family farm that is proud to be accountable for food safety. We are puzzled by the many small, local and organic farmers across the country who are fighting against improved food safety regulations. They feel they should continue to be exempt from having to follow food safety guidelines; instead their preference is not to be accountable for the cleanliness, sanitation and safety of what they produce- they just want you to take their word for it! It just does not make sense; for example, all restaurants large and small must pass health department inspections, nobody should be exempt because of their size. Our small family farm is audited several times a year by third party USDA trained inspectors and major restaurant companies. We hope we are an example to others as Fresh Origins is one small family farm that is leading the way in this area.
We also strive to be efficient and continually improve the way we run our farm. Sustainability is a major buzz-word these days, and a lot of people are trying to profit by greenwashing. The fact is; farming by nature is a sustainable activity and always has been. When farmers do not work hard to conserve natural resources, reduce waste, and maintain the land so that it will continue to be productive, they don’t survive. These days, farmers are pointing out many of the things they have always done, except now it is called sustainable. This makes it suddenly something very special. Fresh Origins can also claim to be sustainable. For insect control, we utilize special screening to exclude pests from our greenhouses. We use miles of sticky tape insect traps to minimize the need for spraying. Whenever spraying is necessary, we choose safer materials such as Garlic, Clove, and Rosemary oils. Our growing medium and growing trays are recycled and re-used.
We carefully hand water over 120,000 trays of greens every day in order to conserve water. An intricate drainage system captures any excess water, including rainwater in our reservoir. We have our own three acre bird and wildlife preserve with dozens of species of native flora and fauna. This area is actually un-level ground and difficult to farm, so we leave it aside purely out of economic reasons, but these days we can proudly proclaim it as part of our green-greatness. Our farm seems to be overrun with honeybees all the time, so they must like what we are doing here. Our flower harvesters get stung a few times every year. Many of our varieties are from heirloom seeds. We don’t grow inside a plant factory warehouse building under artificial lights. Electricity to run those lights, fans, cooling etc., is very expensive, so this kind of production is not sustainable. Because of our mild climate, the need for heating and cooling our greenhouses is greatly minimized. Therefore, our energy usage or “carbon footprint” is significantly less than if we were producing in harsher climates such as the mid-western or north-eastern U.S. where it takes a huge amount of fossil fuel to heat greenhouses.
While it is fashionable these days to claim that we are sustainable, in reality, we do these things out of a common sense need to minimize wasted resources so we can sustain our business now and into the future. It is hard to imagine a farmer who wants to waste expensive fertilizer, insecticides, and water, or
who would ruin the very land they depend on for their crops. Since we don’t do these things, it seems we are now called sustainable! Also, don’t forget, the carbon dioxide that we exhale is used by the plants to keep our planet green and happy, so really, as long as you are breathing, you too are sustainable!
Part of the new halo of so-called sustainability is to say we take good care of employees. At Fresh Origins, our employees are a top priority. We offer good wages and benefits including paid health insurance (we have done this for 20 years, long before it was mandated), life insurance, vacation, and holidays. We provide steady employment all year, there are no seasonal layoffs. We have an excellent facility with excellent working conditions. Our outstanding staff takes great pride in the quality of produce we grow. In reality, it is not easy to find good people, so when we do, it makes sense to do everything we can to take good care of them. If not mistreating our employees makes us sustainable, we are all about it!
Life is beautiful with EarthKosher.
