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Microbial diversity in fermentation ecosystems
A living catalogue of the microbes inside cheese caves, koji rooms and sourdough bakeries — and what a healthy ferment looks like at every stage.
Program overview
Great fermented foods are ecosystems, not single strains. We sample partner creameries, breweries and bakeries through the seasons, sequencing the full community so producers can see their house flora — and spot when it shifts.
Each partner gets a "microbial fingerprint" of their facility: the baseline their future batches are judged against.
What the program delivers
01
House-flora baselines
Know your normal: the yeasts, molds and bacteria that define your flavor.
02
Drift detection
Quarterly sequencing catches unwelcome newcomers before customers taste them.
03
Starter guidance
Data-backed advice on when to refresh, rotate or protect your cultures.
Approach & methods
Amplicon and shotgun sequencing of rind, brine, starter and air samples, paired with sensory scores from partner makers. The dataset already spans forty facilities and nine product categories — the largest open reference of artisan food microbiomes in the region.
Related service: strain analysisMore projects
Map your house flora
Join forty artisan partners building the reference library for fermented foods.
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