Fermenta Collective
A microcosm for cultural transformation. Through fermentation, community, and care.
Fermenta Collective is a living community and cultural laboratory based in Berlin preserving and celebrating traditional food knowledge while cultivating social and ecological transformation.
Who we are: Fermenta Collective
The name is derived from the Latin fermentum (sourdough/leaven), itself rooted in fervere (to ferment or to boil). Figuratively, it denotes agitation and spiritual or social movement. We embody this active, transformative process—creating both wholesome food and a vibrant community.The feminine ending, -a, deliberately highlights the central role of women in sharing and preserving these traditions.
What we do: Learning through doing — exchange, storytelling, embodied knowledge
We host workshops, organize talks, and create opportunities to expand the range of tastes we share—through cooking, meeting, and exchanging with one another. In this way, we not only produce food but also use the ancient practice of fermentation as a profound metaphor for social transformation and cooperation, fostering equitable economies, women’s empowerment, and an ecological view of our world. We operate in Berlin but are eager to expand our reach as new opportunities arise.
Workshops & gatherings
At Fermenta, fermentation is more than food—it's a method of thinking, making, and connecting. Each ferment is a small-scale ecosystem, revealing interdependence between human care and microbial life.Our kitchen is a commons, a space where tradition meets experimentation, recipes carry stories, and ecological awareness is cultivated through the act of making. Participants experience the temporal rhythms of fermentation, learning to value patience, attentiveness, and the slow emergence of results—lessons that extend beyond the kitchen into social and cultural practice.
Cultural laboratory & interdiciplinary dialogues
Fermenta extends beyond the kitchen into a space of experimentation, exchange, and inquiry. Our public programs, seminars, artist residencies or collaborative workshops situate fermentation at the crossroads of:+++ Living systems & material agency: Exploring microbial vitality and the blurred boundaries between nature and culture+++ Food justice & equitable economies: Recognizing and valuing craft, knowledge, and labor+++ Creative futures: Investigating fermentation as a source of inspiration for art, design, technology, and sustainability+++ Ritual & gathering: Reflecting on how shared food practices foster community, belonging, and cultural memoryThese dialogues can be adapted depending on the hosting institution or community, with mentors selected to match specific themes, perspectives, or local contexts.
Collaborate with us!
We see ourselves first and foremost as a production hub in Berlin that values craft and manual labor. Our aim is to highlight the work of participants and build conversations around it—placing skills, creativity, and stories at the center. Different ingredients and diverse methods allow us to connect geographies, languages, and times through food.We are always looking for people with their own fermentation stories and recipes to share in our workshops with us and the collective. We also want to connect the dots to a wider conversation about fermentation in our cultural laboratory and interdisciplinary dialogues. If you have an idea or want to collaborate, get in touch!