Team

Karen Diggs, Founder & Chief Fermentation Officer

Karen is a classically trained chef, certified nutritionist, culinary instructor, and author of Happy Foods: Over 100 Mood-Boosting Recipes. She studied at the California Culinary Academy (now Le Cordon Bleu San Francisco). After graduation, she worked for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong and also helped to open restaurants there. Seven years later, Karen returned to the San Francisco Bay Area with her new culinary skills, ready for a shift from the crazy restaurant world. That’s when she found Bauman College, and enrolled to gain her certification in holistic nutrition.

 

Thanks to her time at Bauman, Karen got hooked on fermenting and became fascinated with traditional fermentation crocks. It was her fascination with the simple but elegant crock design, combined with her work as a nutritionist encouraging her clients to ferment their own foods, that eventually led her to an innovative idea. One day in the shower, Karen realized she could shrink the large crock-moat system and adapt it to fit on top of a wide-mouth mason jar. And that’s exactly what she has done with Kraut Source.

Karen is also a member of the National Association of Nutritional Professionals.

Fermented food that describes Karen the best: 
Jun. Because she loves that it’s made from honey and it’s gentler than kombucha.

Linda Liang, Operations

Linda is a graduate of the Natural Chef program at Bauman College in Berkeley, California, where she was a student of Karen Diggs. A native of Taiwan, she grew up among the bustling sights and smells of the island nation's "wet" markets and delectable street food. After a decade-plus long career in nonprofit marketing, Linda decided to pursue her goal of bringing fresh, seasonal, and healthful foods into the kitchens of Bay Area families. But she won't turn down the occasional serving of her favorite foods: noodles, dumplings, and ice cream. 

Fermented food that describes Linda the best: 
Chocolate. Because she’s part sweet, part astringent, but melts all the same when warmed up.

Hovin Wang, Designer & Web Administrator

Born in Los Angeles, raised in Singapore, and now residing in San Francisco, Hovin received a BA in Graphic Design from the Art Center College of Design in 2005 and have since worked for clients around the globe.

Fermented food that describes Hovin the best:
Beer. Because his astounding range of talents echos the wide array of beer flavors out there.