We recently connected with Fiona Lucia Genadio-Allen and have shared our conversation below.
Fiona Lucia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I contemplated getting a job in a kitchen in Vermont, but ultimately decided that I simply couldn’t put what I believed in to the side any more: scrupulously sourcing the best ingredients, cooking for taste AND health, and voting with EVERY dollar in an integral way. Time to be the change I wished to see.
The other thing that I was always searching for on the shelves of bakeries and behind every bar was herbalism. A student of herbalism for over a decade, passionate about optimizing health from the plants surrounding us, I was always wondering: Where were the tonic medicinal herbs, the herbs that are safe for frequent use, plants that grow wild or are grown on the incredible farms all around us? Plants that could optimize the health of the population while supporting sustainable agriculture? Why weren’t they infused in every butter? Every salad dressing? Why weren’t we salting our foods with herbal salts? Why weren’t they swirling around in cocktails, alcohol being one of their most effective solvents? And why on earth was it so difficult to be a part of the party on nights I didn’t feel like drinking? I looked for menus providing alternatives, and nothing desirable seemed to exist. And so, finally, Wolfpeach, a company bridging the gap between herbalism & spirits, vitality & decadence, ancient wisdom & chic modernity, was born to fill the void.
While I was distilling all of these ideas into a brand, the name Wolfpeach, backed by a fascinating & complicated history, came to me in a dream. The meaning is this:
The tomato was first introduced to Europe in the early 16th century by corrupt conquistadors who pillaged the Nahuan people of Mesoamerica. The Aztec city of Tenochtitlan dwelt upon an island in Lake Texcoco; the Spanish stole the city, stole the tomato, drained the lake & built Mexico City.
And so the fruit the Nahuan called xitomatl or tomatl landed on the pewter platters of the European elite. The acidity of the tomato mischievously dissolved the lead on many of these pewter plates, causing (misunderstood at the time) lead poisoning. Once identified as a member of the notorious nightshade family, the roguish fruit became associated with its poisonous, hallucinogenic, delirium-inducing cousins mandrake & belladonna.
Rife with witch-hunt culture, the Middle Ages unsurprisingly deemed August’s beloved gift a devilish plant & cohort of werewolves. Lore said that witches used the plant to turn themselves or others into werewolves, and thus it was dubbed in Latin lycopersicum, which translates to (drumroll) …Wolfpeach.
Our name pays homage to the rich & tragic history represented in the nuanced etymology of this well-traveled & battle-scarred fruit. It is a nod to a fruit that has been feared & revered, that has transformed & elevated cultures & cuisines. It is a nod to the vilified witches who came before us & to the condemned psychedelic substances that have been forced into hiding for hundreds of years. It is a nod to the indigenous people who domesticated this glorious food & an acknowledgment of the colonialists littered throughout our ancestry, whose effects remain present in the white privilege inherently provided to their descendants. It is an acknowledgement of injustice, of sinister ancestry & the problematic privilege that has followed, and a nod to the ways that food & culture connect us to the people & events that came before us, in the words of Carl Sagan, ‘against the shackles of time.’
I honestly wasn’t thinking about whether or not it would work. For better or worse, I have a tenacious determination, and when an idea strikes me as right, I don’t rest until I bring it to fruition. That being said, I knew that I would be solving a problem no one else was addressing. Zero-proof drinks, an industry that is exploding right now, usually contain sugar and ‘natural flavoring’— a term that is a bold-faced lie, one that you can taste. At Wolfpeach, we source scrupulously, using real ingredients from farmers who farm with integrity; this results in products that have optimal nutrient density and flavor, products that make you feel BETTER, whether you’re mixing them with alcohol or not. We aim to promote wellness in bar culture for those who imbibe as well as for the sober community. The vivacious quality of the ingredients we use, and the subsequent vibrance they impart on those who consume them is what gets me most excited. That, and being able to surprise & excite people who wouldn’t otherwise be inclined to use herbs, with how GOOD these additions can taste.
Fiona Lucia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
As a longtime student of herbalism, and someone perpetually in pursuit of flavor, when I decided to start my own company, bridging the gap between these two loves of mine was the natural move.
A thousand times I had tried to convince various family members to take this tincture or drink that tea, but, for most, the taste or the time required to prepare an herbal concoction was enough to turn them off. One of the most important things that we were taught in herbalism school was that COMPLIANCE IS KEY. No matter how perfect a formulation is, how much it would benefit someone, it does nothing for them if they don’t follow through with consuming it. I think this is a big reason why herbalism, a discipline that has been practiced and documented for thousands of years worldwide, something that our ancestors utilized in one way or another, exists today as an alternative medicine, on the fringe of the wellness world. Tonic herbs are safe for daily use; like superfoods, they are plants that anyone can incorporate into their diet without worrying about dangerous doses or contraindications. They belong on our tables, behind our bars, and in our bodies on a daily basis.
Wolfpeach strives to make products whose flavor makes herbs alluring to anyone, especially those not normally inclined to reach for them. We want to make your daily dose of vitamins and minerals something you look forward to, something your kids request, something that your granddad reaches for. And we want to make it EASY. Easy to sprinkle on your food in some salt, to stir into your coffee in the morning, easy to mix into a dressing or shake into a mixed drink.
The front of our labels is dedicated to acknowledgement of the farms and producers that provide every ingredient in a given product, because CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE. Scrupulously selected because of the integrity with which they work, these farms deserve recognition and visibility. We hope this transparency inspires our customers to make the extra effort to seek out ethical producers, and learn about the sourcing that goes into all products that they consume. When it comes to herbs, they’re not all grown or preserved equally. Herbs that are poorly dried or stored, for instance, lose a lot of their medicinal value to heat, sunlight and oxidation. We take profound pride in the ingredients that we use and the incredible farms we source from, all of whom exercise top-notch growing, harvesting, drying and storing techniques. It takes more effort and more money to source this way, but it’s worth every moment of time and every damn dime. The difference is tangible, in taste and in physiological impact. You vote with every dollar that you spend. By making the choice to spend our loot with farmers and producers who work with the utmost integrity, we support their hard work & honorable practices, we support the health of the soil and the landscape around us, and we support the vigor and vitality of our bodies. That’s the kind of economy we want to promote.
How did you build your audience on social media?
My social media presence is an extension of myself, my passion & my voice. The way I write publicly wouldn’t be considered advisable by most: I’m aggressive about causes I care about and injustices that deserve to be shouted from the rooftops. I believe that white people have an obligation to use their platforms to amplify melanin voices and businesses, and to cast light on the deplorable injustices disproportionally delivered to BIPOC communities in this country. I don’t speak gently about this on social media. In the initial stages of developing Wolfpeach, my co-founder was rightfully rattled by this, as taking a stance on political subjects would inevitably turn some people off of our products, but we both agreed that integrity is a core value to the company. I would rather use my platform to ruffle feathers than be on the wrong or complacent side of history.
The same fire & edge informs the way I tackle almost every topic. Common protocol wouldn’t deem this approach safe or sensible, but it has actually worked in our favor. It may stop people in their tracks, but usually in a positive way: Our voice is refreshingly honest, intriguingly bold and funny. The amusingly ardent tone proves to be quite charming: I always get enthusiastic feedback on posts, and on how people can really HEAR me through the way I write. Using capital letters in a fun & bossy way has proven to be a crucial way for me to convey tone & emphasis effectively.
If there’s any advice I would give to those just starting to build a social media presence, I’d say prioritize authenticity. Allowing your brand to have authentic personality, panache and opinion may not be the safest route, but at the end of the day, building something you believe in, that you can stand behind with pride, is worth the risk. A genuine presence always proves to be more captivating than a contrived one, so it pays off; it’s notable, and people will remember you for it.
Have you ever had to pivot?
A year and a half into business, I realized that I had to leave a toxic relationship that was deeply infused into all aspects of my life. Vermont is my home, and it will always be home to Wolfpeach, but severing personal ties felt impossible while physically remaining in that environment. Years ago, despite having only ever passed through London, I had an undeniable inclination to move there. Doing so was one of the best decisions I ever made; it was the move that ultimately led me to my career in the culinary industry, and lit up my life in ways I never imagined. Years later, while navigating personal upheaval, a voice kept calling me to New Orleans (a city I had never visited!), and I knew there was nothing to do but ABIDE.
Blessed by good & capable friends who believed in me and in the company, I was able to shift production and shipping responsibilities over to a great team. This was a huge, scary move, but it immediately proved transformational for both the company and myself.
With my hands out of physical production, I was finally able to address a long to-do list of managerial tasks, some of which I’d been putting off since I started the company, because I simply hadn’t had the time. I was able to start sales outreach to bars across the country, graphically design promotional material, upgrade our labels, solidify a wholesale program,
get a grant, and up our social media game. This fresh delegation of tasks also forced me to IMPLEMENT SYSTEMS, getting my recipe instructions fine-tuned and my long-distance managerial skills up to par. There are so many little tips and tricks in production that had just been in my head, and being away provided the opportunity for me to get those all down in writing, setting up the team at home for success. With the distance, I got my spark, my power and my drive back.
This is something that doesn’t get addressed enough in business, but as a small business owner, taking care of your personal life & mental and emotional health is critical to maintaining a thriving business. With my soul soothed, my enthusiasm for the company and the mission flooded back in, and that’s the lifeline. This pivot spurred pleasantly and surprisingly fast flourishment and growth for Wolfpeach. Sometimes you just have to brave the storm with an unfaltering belief in yourself, your company, and its purpose: lean into the lightning, let the thunder rage on, and turn the corner. Onward & upward.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wolfpeachvt.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wolfpeachvt/
Image Credits
Fiona Lucia Genadio-Allen Corey Rondeau Valery Ayla Gordon