Growing up in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, now known as Czech Republic, meant growing up with a close connection to food for young Zora. This wasn’t just because at the time there was little-to-no access to processed and pre-packaged foods, but also because Zora is the granddaughter of farmers! Both her maternal and paternal grandparents lived on farms complete with abundant gardens and small livestock as they were easy to keep. She and her brother spent many summers working hard harvesting the orchards, weeding the gardens, and mucking behind the animals.

When it was time to learn to cook, Zora was taught to walk out to the garden, gather the ingredients needed for your meal and begin prepping. There was no concept of running to the store to grab something quickly, it was all home-made, start to finish. This way of living has stuck with Zora and it’s what helped inspire our very first products: the BBQ Beef, Parmesan Beef, and the Chili Beef bar.