WILD WOMEN IN HIKING: ASHLEY LANCE

Meet Ashley Lance, Founder of Fernweh Food Co.

by Jaime Purinton

I was so excited when I first found Fernweh Food Co. Everything about the company was exactly what I wanted to support:

Small Business

Woman Owned

Plant Based

Eco-Friendly

I couldn't wait to try the meals, so I placed my first order, and they were amazing. They are filling, tasty, whole foods, plant based, and healthy- something that is hard to find in most backpacking meals. I have been hooked ever since.

I am always intrigued by outdoor women owned and led businesses, so I reached out to Ashley for an interview and she was more than happy to participate. I wanted to know what inspires her, what drives her to create such tasty and healthy meals. I also wanted to know how Fernweh Food Co is reducing the impact on our world and what her hopes and dreams are.

And she did not disappoint!

So, dive right in and meet Ashley and her company Fernweh Food Co.

Jaime: What was the "why" behind starting Fernweh? What challenges did you encounter in the beginning?

Ashley: In early 2019 I found myself unemployed for the first time in a long time. I had been making dehydrated meals for our own adventures and had taught a few clinics on making your own adventure foods but wasn’t sure how to make it into anything more than a hobby. With my newfound time, I decided to give this crazy dream a shot at becoming something real. In the beginning money was an issue as I was bootstrapping the business myself. Because of this I ended up doing a lot of trades to get the business going. For instance, I cleaned and organized the basement kitchen that Fernweh Food Co started in for free rent. When we started, we were trying to be entirely waste free and only used reusable or “fill your own” packaging options. Our first year we sourced almost entirely from small farms and made all our money from in person events. However, once the pandemic hit, we had to completely pivot our entire business model. That was probably the biggest challenge we have faced to date, but we wouldn’t be where we are today without that happening.

Jaime: What keeps you motivated daily?

Ashley: My son and a desire to be my own boss. The former for obvious reasons; I want to be on the front lines of creating smarter and more conscious businesses that aim to keep our planet beautiful and livable for future generations. Plus, it would be nice to be able to pass down a successful business to him one day. The latter because in the past I had a string of toxic bosses that were very hard to work for. I want to make a positive, open and communicative workplace for others to come to.

Jaime: I love that all your options are vegan. My favorite is your mushroom pot pie- it is so good I could eat it even when I am not backpacking! Why did you decide to only offer plant-based meals?

Ashley: When we started this business there was a big hole in the market for plant-based/ vegan and gluten free options, especially in sustainable packaging. I had some great plant-based recipes that we’d been enjoying for years – a version of the Mushroom Pot Pie among them– so it seemed like the right move! Plus being plant-based, our meals have a smaller footprint on the environment.

Jaime: What were the top three most important steps you took to move Fernweh from a side hustle to your fulltime gig?

Ashley: 1. Get laid off and have no backup plan. 2. Find a kitchen to produce our meals in. 3. Believe that I could do this and remind myself daily that I am capable of doing something great.

Jaime: What is your favorite podcast and why?

Ashley: National Park After Dark – it’s such a great mix of spooky, cautionary, and extraterrestrial tales that all take place in national parks across the world. Plus, the hosts Cassie and Danielle are so endearing and really put in the time to research their stories. We listen to their podcast every week in the kitchen!

Jaime: In what ways is Fernweh reducing impact on the world?

Ashley: The two main ways we are working to reduce impact on the world is by offering our meals in a more sustainable packaging option and by offering meals that are so delicious you can’t even tell they are vegan. When we had to pivot our current packaging in 2020, we checked out every “green” packaging that we could find. We moved forward with the Omnidegradable

tekpak packaging because of the ease of using this pouch on the trail - you can cook in the bag! Plus we love that they break down entirely no matter where they end up.

Jaime: What is your all-time favorite backpacking trip and why?

Ashley: I think this is a toss up for me between three outstanding trips. 1. The Wonderland Trail in WA - it was my longest hike, and it was absolutely stunning, challenging and was so great to feel like I was getting a behind the scenes look at Mt. Rainier NP. 2. The Superstitions in AZ - it was my first desert backpacking trip where water and shade were both hard to come by, so I liked the logistics and the challenge of this, plus my now husband proposed to

me on this trip and by the nature of the location, I couldn’t tell anyone about it for three days when we finally got phone service. 3. Escalante / Grand Staircase in UT - we attempted to get married on this backpacking trip with a group of our friends but due to a certain shiesty ranger, this part of the trip did not happen (if you want the whole story we have a blog post about it on our site), but it was probably one of the last times we’ll be able to have 12 friends from across the US go on a 3-day backpacking trip with us.

Jaime: What does "Hike It Off" mean to you?

Ashley: It means perseverance, believing in yourself, and just getting outside in whatever capacity you can.

Jaime: How can we support you?

Ashley: You can buy our meals from our online store (fernwehfoodco.com/shop) or from select retailers across the US (visit our site to see the complete list). You can also be a good steward to the land and pick up trash on the trail, use LNT practices when exploring, and be kind to everyone you meet on and off the trail.

Jaime: Do you have anything new on the horizon?

Ashley: We are working on a few new meals that we hope to roll out later this year and are very excited to be at Trail Days in Damascus in May and at PCT Days in August so we can finally meet all of y’all in person!

Jaime: If you could grant one wish for the world, what would it be?

Ashley: A stop or slow down to climate change. That as a whole, we could make systematic changes in the way we consume and how products are sold to customers. I’m very worried about climate change and the shape of the world we are leaving our children. I’m happy to be a small disrupter to the way things currently are, but what I really want is for this change to be happening on a grander scale with larger companies.

Jaime: Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Ashley: Folks can follow us on Instagram and Facebook at @FernwehFoodCo