Food Styling: Kelsey Moylan
Each glass jar fromThe White Moustachecontains a few precious ounces of traditionally fermented yogurt.
Compared to big brands, hers is a charmingly artisan process.
She makes 15 batches of naturally-fermented yogurt weekly and has a list of stores waiting to carry it.
Credit:Carson Downing. Food Styling: Kelsey Moylan
Q: Why did you want to write the book Yogurt & Whey?
Why isnt this The White Moustache yogurt cookbook?
My story and White Moustaches story are different.
Credit:Michael Cervieri
Its really important that I dont mark my brand as an individual.
White Moustache is woven in there quite tightly, but its not dictating the story.
It gets to be my perspective and Brooklyn perspective.
I think I got to tell a richer story.
Im lucky that my brand is small and the goal is to stay small.
Theres so much freedom in that.
But if I get that big I have to make compromises I dont want to make.
In the panic of Covid I saw all my friends with small businesses similar to mine go down.
I reached out all over the place to all of my mentors to try and see it through.
Were at a higher price point than most and thats allowed us to prioritize our recipe development.
In this post-Covid world with skyrocketing prices, it means we have to take the next step.
Whether we fail or succeed, weve hopefully set an example and created some headway.
Right now we make 15 batches per week, and each batch is like 80 gallons.
Were looking to scale to18, and thats a lot for us.
We have a waitlist of stores.
We can grow and slowly see where it goes.
Q: What does growth look like for the company now?
I thought it was my billion dollar idea and I didnt realize that it wasnt obvious to everyone else.
When I realized nobody knew what to do with it, I added fruit juice to it.
Q: Does the whey supply outpace the market for it?
I still have whey on my hands.
Its the unfamiliarity, but its so inspiring as an ingredient!
Any restaurant could turn it into a sorbet, a caramel, a cocktail.
Any place could make a whey-based broth.
Whey tenderizes flour in baking, or meat in cooking.
All I have to do is inspire somebody to use it!
Im hoping the book will be that.
Its so obvious to me.
Once people know how readily available it is, I think it could get there.
Q: Do you have new products on the horizon?
Nothing, I hope!
Q: Can you tell me about how the design/packaging of your products came to be?
Why package the product in glass?
Most yogurt has to be in plastic because theyre set in the same cup theyre sold in.
But it takes us three days to make our yogurt.
Its like a gift.
Weve been vigorously working on a jar recycling program but we havent rolled it out yet.
Q: Do you still work with your dad?
My dad is very proud.
He has a great idea of freezing the whey into treats for dogs.
Hes still very involved in the flavors and the creative pieces.
Its a very nice, almost lingering goodbye to summer.
It reminds me a lot of how life was in Iran, really tied to the seasons.
Q: What do you hope people will learn about Iranian culture from the book?
The book captures my memories and my family heritage.
I didnt want to ride on the coattails of my product.
