Rooted in Eugene | Part 6: The Fertile Valley
Eugene, Oregon may not immediately land on your radar, but for those in food manufacturing, the region is known as a nearly perfect place for producing products and distributing across the west coast. Saddled on the southern edge of the fertile Willamette Valley, the metro area’s modest size, lack of traffic congestion, and inexpensive highly renewable hydropower supply pair wonderfully with its location less than 500 miles from both Seattle and The Bay area.
Oregon is well known for its farm to table culture and Portland is certainly the poster child for much of the state's notoriety. Yet, with the average cost of home ownership in Portland now over a half a million dollars, The City of Roses can be a challenging place for some food entrepreneurs to grow their brands or stay connected to the land that inspires their work.
Shaun Winter became a food entrepreneur when he discovered a rare mutation in one of the peppers he was growing on a small farm in Northern California. Some of the Jimmy Nardello sweet peppers in his crop were distinctly spicy! Hoping to recreate this odd phenomena, he spent five years selectively cultivating to refine the mutation into a distinct cultivar that is now known as the Hot Winter Pepper.
Shaun Winter, founder of Hot Winter Hot Sauce
When he moved to Portland, he began bottling fermented hot sauces and his brand Hot Winter Hot Sauce was born. Yet, while growing the business in Portland, Winter could not afford the property nor the time to grow his own ingredients for the brand. While he was able to contract with a robust network of other regional farms to produce ingredients, he did still want to spend time farming and hopefully grow at least some ingredients himself. When his wife enrolled in a graduate program at The University of Oregon in Eugene, things changed in unexpected ways.
The Winters moved to the Eugene area in 2017, and they found that the area had plenty of opportunity beyond a high ranking graduate program. The cost of living was about half that of Portland and that the smaller urban area lent itself to a life both on the farm and in the office. Shaun quickly found a shared use production kitchen just outside of town in Cottage Grove and some affordable land to begin growing his own peppers and he doesn’t seem to be looking back. "I liked living in Portland, but as soon as I was down here and able to get back to growing my own peppers, there was no going back. I'm on a farm that's thirty minutes from where I live and fifteen minutes from my kitchen. That just makes things possible in a totally different way.”
Jessica Jones found her slice of heaven just 12 miles outside of Eugene’s city limits. She bought a farm close to the town of Crow, down the street from Sweet Cheeks Winery and Alesong Brewing and Blending. Jones and her husband live and work on the property. They’ve built a small facility that houses Queen’s Bounty, their brand of local, raw honey gathered from hundreds of hives they manage, all located in the Greater Eugene area.
Jones certainly enjoys the proximity to world class beverages - she is the former COO of Ninkasi Brewing, but the rural lifestyle and the opportunity to work in deep partnership with the natural world is now an essential labor of love that she won’t be giving up anytime soon. “I don’t think I could ever live in a big city again.” She goes on to describe the more specific joys found in the practice of beekeeping. “Working outdoors, you become really in tune with the seasons, which is not something you know working in an office.”
Jessica Jones and Scott Perkins, Co-founders of The Queen’s Bounty
Yet, with downtown Eugene less than 20 minutes from their house, Jones isn’t missing out on anything living the country life. In fact, she’s finding that life just on the edge of town lends itself to a sustainable lifestyle that aligns with her values and passion for delicious food and drink. “We love that we were able to purchase a house here. We’ve learned to forage chanterelles and morels and gone to the coast for crabbing and clamming. We don’t buy any meat with the exception of a pig share from down the street.” Anything they don’t grow or forage themselves is easily obtained at one of the half a dozen natural foods grocers or daily farmers markets in town.
Jones and Winter represent a new generation of entrepreneurs that are choosing to grow businesses that support a balanced and humble lifestyle. They value deep connection to the land and community that their work is so intimately tied to. While they both could certainly find professional opportunities with hefty paychecks elsewhere, they are finding something far more satisfying alongside many others in Eugene, Oregon.
If you’re interested in learning more about local food community in the Eugene, Oregon area, check out Willamette Farm and Food Coalition. The organization publishes an annual guide to all things local food as well.
Rooted in Eugene highlights stories of people who chose to live, work, and play in the greater Eugene area’s dynamic food and beverage manufacturing industry
Check out the rest of the series!
Part 1: Love and Natural Foods
Part 2: High Quality Ingredients
Part 3: On the Cusp of Something