Close up of the three ferments with the MAYA Ferments wordmark

Gut-conscious food.

Crunchy, delicious, colorful lacto-fermented vegetables with live cultures.

Three flavors

The three MAYA Ferments jars

The bundle

One of each.

$39.99

Or mix any three jars for the same price. Add three singles and the price adjusts at checkout.

Add to cart

Health benefits

Why each jar is good for you.

Three vegetables. Three different nutritional profiles. All traditionally fermented with live cultures.

Purple Cabbage

Antioxidant-rich purple cabbage, transformed through fermentation.

  • Live culturesNaturally occurring live cultures from lacto-fermentation.
  • AnthocyaninsPurple cabbage is naturally rich in anthocyanins, antioxidant plant pigments responsible for its deep purple color.
  • Vitamin C + KVitamin C supports normal immune function and antioxidant protection. Vitamin K supports normal blood clotting and bone health.
  • FiberMade from whole cabbage, so its naturally occurring plant fiber stays in the food.

Live cultures · Anthocyanins · Vitamin C + K

Rainbow Carrots

Five colors. A diverse mix of naturally occurring plant pigments.

  • Beta-caroteneCarrots are naturally rich in beta-carotene, which the body can convert into vitamin A.
  • Vitamin A supportVitamin A supports normal vision, immune function and healthy skin.
  • Colorful phytonutrientsDifferent carrot colors contribute different naturally occurring pigments, including carotenoids and anthocyanins.
  • Live culturesLacto-fermentation adds live cultures while preserving the identity of the whole vegetable.

Live cultures · Beta-carotene · Vitamin A support

Jicama + Purple Onion

Prebiotic-rich vegetables meet live fermentation.

  • Prebiotic fiberJicama naturally contains prebiotic fibers, including inulin-type fructans, that help feed beneficial gut microbes.
  • Quercetin + anthocyaninsPurple onion naturally provides flavonoids including quercetin and anthocyanin pigments.
  • Live culturesLacto-fermentation adds live cultures to this naturally fiber-rich vegetable combination.
  • Whole-vegetable fiberThe vegetables stay intact rather than being juiced or extracted.

Live cultures · Prebiotic fiber · Quercetin

Fermentation

What fermentation brings to the table.

Live cultures

Naturally occurring microorganisms created during fermentation and maintained through refrigeration.

Plant fiber

Made from whole vegetables, so their naturally occurring fiber stays in the food.

Organic acids

Lactic-acid fermentation transforms vegetable sugars and produces naturally tangy organic acids.

Nutrient bioavailability

Fermentation changes the food matrix and can affect the digestibility and bioavailability of nutrients.

The three cuts: shredded cabbage, diced jicama and onion, carrot ribbons

How it is made

CutFresh vegetables are washed, trimmed and cut for the texture we want in each jar.
SaltMineral salt is carefully measured for each recipe to create the right conditions for a consistent ferment.
FermentOver five to six days, the vegetables ferment as the pH gradually falls, the flavor develops and the living culture of the batch becomes established.
CheckWe monitor pH throughout fermentation, follow our food-safety procedures at every stage and taste each batch before it is ready to jar.
ChillOnce the batch is ready, it is jarred and refrigerated to slow fermentation and maintain the texture and flavor we want.

Tastes good. Feels good.
Looks good.

A lineup of MAYA Ferments jarsOne of each · $39.99
The three MAYA Ferments jars on a dock in Miami

Small batch

Made and packed in Miami.

Maya eating a fermented carrot ribbon beside the three jars
Maya in chef whites in a professional kitchen
Maya with the kitchen team at Saddle Madrid
Maya at her Le Cordon Bleu graduation

Meet Maya.

Maya trained at Le Cordon Bleu Madrid and spent years in professional kitchens before starting MAYA Ferments.

  • Le Cordon Bleu Madrid
  • Professional kitchen background
  • Founder of MAYA Ferments

Where to buy

Where to buy.

Process

Cut + Salt + Ferment +
Check + Chill

The three cuts: shredded cabbage, diced jicama and onion, carrot ribbons
01

Cut

Fresh vegetables are washed, trimmed and cut for the texture we want in each jar.

02

Salt

Mineral salt is carefully measured for each recipe to create the right conditions for a consistent ferment.

03

Ferment

Over five to six days, the vegetables ferment as the pH gradually falls, the flavor develops and the living culture of the batch becomes established.

04

Check

We monitor pH throughout fermentation, follow our food-safety procedures at every stage and taste each batch before it is ready to jar.

05

Chill

Once the batch is ready, it is jarred and refrigerated to slow fermentation and maintain the texture and flavor we want.

Curious what happens in the jar?

The science

What is lacto-fermentation?

Lacto-fermentation is one of the oldest ways of preserving food, used for thousands of years to transform fresh vegetables through salt, time and naturally occurring beneficial bacteria.

During fermentation, these bacteria feed on the natural sugars in the vegetables and produce lactic acid. As that acid builds, the pH drops, giving fermented vegetables their bright, tangy flavor while creating the acidic environment that naturally preserves them.

Despite the name, ‘lacto’ has nothing to do with lactose or dairy. It refers to lactic acid—the natural acid produced during this fermentation process.

The result is more than preservation: fermentation creates live cultures and naturally tangy organic acids, can change how some nutrients are digested and absorbed, and works alongside the fiber, vitamins, antioxidants and plant compounds already present in the vegetables.

Close up of the three ferments

Live cultures

Naturally occurring microorganisms created during fermentation and maintained through refrigeration. We never pasteurize or heat-treat the finished jars.

Prebiotic fiber

Prebiotic plant fibers, such as the inulin-type fructans in jicama, help feed beneficial gut microbes.

Organic acids

Lactic-acid fermentation transforms vegetable sugars and produces naturally tangy organic acids. Those acids lower the pH, which is what preserves the jar.

Nutrient bioavailability

Fermentation changes the food matrix and can affect the digestibility and bioavailability of nutrients. The effect depends on the food and the nutrient, so we do not claim it for every nutrient in every jar.

Microbiome support

A diverse gut microbiome plays an important role in digestion, immune function and overall gut health. Fermented foods and prebiotic fiber are two of the dietary ways people support it.

The vegetables

What each ingredient brings.

Purple cabbage

Live cultures · Anthocyanins · Vitamin C + K

Purple cabbage is naturally rich in anthocyanins, the antioxidant plant pigments responsible for its deep purple color. It also naturally provides vitamin C, which supports normal immune function and antioxidant protection, and vitamin K, which supports normal blood clotting and bone health. Made from whole cabbage, so its plant fiber stays in the food.

Learn more
Anthocyanins are the same family of antioxidant pigments found in purple carrots and berries. Cabbage is also a cruciferous vegetable, and finely shredding it before fermentation gives the cultures more surface to work on, which is part of why this jar develops such a deep, savory flavor.

NIH Office of Dietary Supplements: vitamin C · vitamin K · Anthocyanins review (Food & Nutrition Research, 2017)

Rainbow carrots

Live cultures · Beta-carotene · Vitamin A support

Carrots are naturally rich in beta-carotene, which the body can convert into vitamin A. Vitamin A supports normal vision, immune function and healthy skin. The different carrot colors contribute different naturally occurring pigments, including carotenoids and anthocyanins.

Learn more
Orange carrots get their color from beta-carotene, while purple carrots contain anthocyanins — antioxidant pigments from the same family found in purple cabbage.

NIH Office of Dietary Supplements: vitamin A and carotenoids

Jicama + Purple Onion

Live cultures · Prebiotic fiber · Quercetin

Jicama naturally contains prebiotic fibers, including inulin-type fructans, that help feed beneficial gut microbes. It also provides vitamin C. Purple onion naturally provides flavonoids including quercetin and anthocyanin pigments. The vegetables stay intact rather than being juiced or extracted, so their whole-vegetable fiber stays in the jar.

Learn more
Purple onion contains antioxidant flavonoids such as quercetin, along with anthocyanin pigments that give the brine its beautiful pink color.

How prebiotics are defined (ISAPP consensus, 2017) · Inulin from jicama root (Carbohydrate Polymers, 2021) · Onion flavonoids review (J. Agric. Food Chem., 2007)

Ingredient facts, not finished-product nutrient claims.

Research

What research has found.

The sources below are peer-reviewed studies, expert consensus statements and government fact sheets. They describe fermented foods and vegetables in general, not finished-product testing of MAYA jars.

Fermented foods and the gut microbiome

Fermented foods, microbiome diversity and immune markers.

Stanford · Cell · 2021

In a 10-week Stanford study of healthy adults, a diet high in fermented foods increased gut-microbiome diversity and decreased levels of 19 inflammatory proteins. Researchers also saw reduced activation in four types of immune cells. This research looked at a diet containing a range of fermented foods and was not a study of MAYA Ferments specifically.

Wastyk HC, Fragiadakis GK, Perelman D, et al. Gut-microbiota-targeted diets modulate human immune status. Cell. 2021;184(16):4137-4153.

Read the study →Stanford Medicine summary

Review · Nutrients · 2019

A review of fermented foods and gastrointestinal health: how fermentation changes a food, what reaches the gut, and where the evidence currently stands.

Dimidi E, Cox SR, Rossi M, Whelan K. Fermented foods: definitions and characteristics, impact on the gut microbiota and effects on gastrointestinal health and disease. Nutrients. 2019;11(8):1806.

Read the study →

Live cultures and fermentation metabolites

What fermentation adds to a food.

Consensus statement · Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology · 2021

The ISAPP expert panel defines fermented foods as foods made through desired microbial growth and enzymatic conversion, and distinguishes foods that still contain live microbes from those that do not. Our jars are never pasteurized, so they stay in the live-culture group.

Marco ML, Sanders ME, Gänzle M, et al. The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on fermented foods. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2021;18(3):196-208.

Read the statement →

Review · Current Opinion in Biotechnology · 2017

An overview of how fermented foods are studied: the live microbes they carry, the organic acids and other compounds produced during fermentation, and how fermentation changes the food itself.

Marco ML, Heeney D, Binda S, et al. Health benefits of fermented foods: microbiota and beyond. Current Opinion in Biotechnology. 2017;44:94-102.

Read the study →

Whole vegetables and fiber

Why we keep the vegetable intact.

Review · Nutrients · 2013

A review of dietary fiber and prebiotics: how fiber reaches the colon, how inulin-type fibers are fermented by gut microbes, and what the evidence shows for gut health.

Slavin J. Fiber and prebiotics: mechanisms and health benefits. Nutrients. 2013;5(4):1417-1435.

Read the review →

Carotenoids in carrots

Beta-carotene and vitamin A.

Fact sheet · NIH Office of Dietary Supplements

Carrots are among the richest common food sources of beta-carotene, a provitamin A carotenoid the body can convert into vitamin A. Vitamin A supports normal vision, immune function and healthy skin.

National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin A and Carotenoids: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals.

Read the fact sheet →

Anthocyanins in purple cabbage

The pigments behind the color.

Review · Food & Nutrition Research · 2017

A review of anthocyanins, the water-soluble pigments that give purple cabbage, berries and purple carrots their color, covering their chemistry, their role as antioxidant plant compounds and the state of the health research.

Khoo HE, Azlan A, Tang ST, Lim SM. Anthocyanidins and anthocyanins: colored pigments as food, pharmaceutical ingredients, and the potential health benefits. Food & Nutrition Research. 2017;61(1):1361779.

Read the review →NIH: vitamin CNIH: vitamin K

Prebiotic fibers in jicama

Inulin-type fructans.

Consensus statement · Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology · 2017

The ISAPP expert panel defines a prebiotic as a substrate that is selectively used by host microorganisms and confers a health benefit. Inulin-type fructans are among the best-documented examples.

Gibson GR, Hutkins R, Sanders ME, et al. Expert consensus document: The ISAPP consensus statement on the definition and scope of prebiotics. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017;14(8):491-502.

Read the statement →

Study · Carbohydrate Polymers · 2021

Researchers extracted inulin from jicama (yam bean) root and measured its prebiotic activity in the laboratory, documenting jicama as a natural source of inulin-type fructans.

Sarkar R, Bhowmik A, Kundu A, et al. Inulin from Pachyrhizus erosus root and its production intensification using evolutionary algorithm approach and response surface methodology. Carbohydrate Polymers. 2021;251:117042.

View on PubMed →

Quercetin and anthocyanins in purple onion

Onion flavonoids.

Review · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry · 2007

Onions are among the richest common dietary sources of flavonoids. Quercetin derivatives are the main flavonols in every onion variety studied, and red onions also carry anthocyanin pigments.

Slimestad R, Fossen T, Vågen IM. Onions: a source of unique dietary flavonoids. J Agric Food Chem. 2007;55(25):10067-10080.

View on PubMed →

These sources describe the vegetables and fermented foods in general. They are not claims that MAYA Ferments treats, prevents or cures any condition.

How the jars are made:

Maya eating a fermented carrot ribbon beside the three jars
Maya in chef whites in a professional kitchen
Maya with the kitchen team at Saddle Madrid
Maya at her Le Cordon Bleu graduation

About

Hi, I’m Maya.

I’m 23, from Miami, and I’ve worked in professional kitchens since I was 18.

I started at Rootstalk in Breckenridge, Colorado, where I spent a year working in the kitchen and discovered my passion for the culinary arts. I then trained at Le Cordon Bleu, where I earned my Grand Diplôme and later completed their first course dedicated to fermentation. I continued my fermentation studies at LOV Ferments in Barcelona.

After graduating, I joined Saddle in Madrid, a Michelin-starred restaurant, where I spent a year and a half working in the kitchen.

Health and the way food makes me feel have always mattered to me. I believe food is one of the most everyday ways we can take care of ourselves, and that interest is what drew me deeper into fermentation.

Long before starting MAYA Ferments, I was brewing kombucha and fermenting vegetables at home because fermented foods had genuinely become part of the way I ate.

MAYA Ferments grew out of that fascination. I wanted to make fermented vegetables beautiful, delicious and easy to reach for every day.

Every jar is made to the same standard I expect from my own food—with care, love, time and patience.

Instagram
The three MAYA Ferments jars on a dock in Miami

Small batch

Made and packed in Miami.

Where to buy

Where to find MAYA Ferments.

Order online

Local delivery

Local delivery is available in select Miami-Dade ZIP codes.
Next delivery:

Have a private pickup code?

Our ferments need to stay refrigerated. Please choose a delivery day when someone will be available to receive your order and refrigerate it promptly. Please don’t leave the jars outside after delivery.

In store

Retail

    Farmers markets

    Markets

      Farmers markets

      Pick up at the Grove.

      Prefer to shop in person? Join our Saturday market list. We’ll email you Friday with availability and market details. No payment is taken, and joining the list does not reserve product.

      Reserve your jarsJoin the Saturday market list

      If we have jars for the market on Friday, we email the list. If delivery orders sell through, we let the list know there will be no Saturday availability.

      Miami-Dade

      On the map.

      Map of south Miami-Dade
      © OpenStreetMap contributors

      FAQ

      Questions people ask us.

      Help

      How can we help?

      Questions about an order, your jars, wholesale, or anything else? We’re happy to help.

      You can also email us at maya@mayaferments.com.

      Instagram, @maya.ferments
      Order help
      Need help with an order? Send us a note and include your order number if you have it — we’ll take it from there.
      Product questions
      Questions about your jars, fermentation, storage, or how to enjoy them? Ask us anything.
      Wholesale
      Interested in carrying MAYA Ferments? We’d love to hear from shops, restaurants, and other Miami-Dade partners.
      Press & collaborations
      Press, events, collaborations, or fermentation questions? We’d love to chat.
      FAQ
      Storage, burping, brine, how to eat it, delivery: .