Zoe von Gerlach, Stanford Engineering BS and MS

Bio

Completing my bachelor’s and master’s at Stanford I always knew I wanted to apply my engineering background to medicine. During my master’s I cofounded a medical nonprofit. While at Stanford I spent so much time working with patients and noticed one recurring theme: people are really struggling with their gut health. I wanted an easily accessible, delicious way for people to consume fermented prebiotics and realized I already had it in my home fridge: amazake. After graduating I immediately set out to make amazake accessible to more people. 

Why I started Culture Crush

While my younger sister was in high school, she became extremely sick with severe gut inflammation. Feeling helpless, I began researching the gut microbiome and the role of fermented foods. That’s when I discovered amazake - a traditional Japanese recipe that has been used for centuries to support gut health and overall wellness. An absolute nutritional powerhouse. 

I started fermenting amazake at home and saw the difference firsthand. Not only did my sister love the taste, she also began noticing its impact on rebuilding her gut microbiome. Soon, amazake became a daily ritual in our home. From there, it naturally expanded to our friends and then our wider community. The growing demand required me to create Culture Crush, to make the benefits of amazake available to all. 

I started Culture Crush in 2024, we hand make amazake with the highest quality ingredients, at our fermentation lab in Los Angeles.