On a recent Thursday afternoon, Carl Haley sits among dozens of patrons filling Herban Market’s aromatic and inviting space. At one table, a couple converses over glasses of kombucha drawn from the tap. At another, a server places down a dish of seared, wild-caught Alaskan Yukon River keta salmon along with sautéed carrots, spinach, beets, and asparagus. The patron is clearly pleased. So too are the ones at the adjoining table, digging into their Caesar salad and meat lover’s pizza. As for Carl himself, he sips on a cappuccino, its frothy white surface adorned with the coffee-colored outline of a heart.
Four different tables, four very different dining decisions. However -- at Herban Market -- all share one thing in common: the healthiest possible sourcing of ingredients. Founded upon the principle of providing clean, healing food, Herban Market serves only organically grown and, whenever possible, locally-grown fare. Carl knows this firsthand. He has just delivered to Herban Market’s kitchen several cartons of fresh eggs from his farm in nearby Leiper’s Fork, where 368 Red Comets lay an honest living inside their free-range, ten-acre, gated hen community.
Carl is just one of the many farmers that owners, Matt and Ashlea Hogancamp work with. “We have established personal relationships directly with dozens of producers observing state-of-the-art organic practices,” says Ashlea. “Not only do I personally visit and confirm their organic practices but dealing directly with suppliers helps us keep our costs down. We taste test every single product sitting on our shelves and do all the research on our suppliers and their ingredients so that our patrons don’t have to. Moms and dads are busy! We can take that off their plates for them.”
It has proved a winning formula for success. Since its inception in October of 2015, Herban Market has grown faster than a well-drained zucchini in a compost bin. In fact, Matt and Ashlea even had to double their floor space lest everyone get squashed. What started as a local market, coffee, and olive oil bar, now includes a full-service restaurant.
“We started out with the two of us,” Ashlea recalls, referring to herself and Matt, “and only three part-time employees. Now there are still the two of us, but sixty-eight employees, both full and part-time.”
Not bad for just four years.
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