The Freshary: Shanghai's 'ethically perfect' cafe

“Vegan” and “Shanghai” aren’t words you often use together, but a recent addition to the local dining scene is hoping to change all that.

Opened in October of 2010, The Freshary is marketed as China’s first certified organic ice cream and organic baked goods producer and retailer, and the first in the country to be awarded a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold star. 

Healthy living

But the idea is not to preach. “We’re not advocates of a vegan lifestyle,” says owner Paul Bergman.

With his wife Sara, the two want to promote a healthful, holistic lifestyle through healthy eating and conscious living. 

A lot of coco comes from the Ivory Coast where they have coco tree plantations and clear the land. We get ours from Tanzania and we wanted to help preserve the local ecology with a shade tree planting project.— Paul Bergman, The Freshary founder

“Veganism is just one way someone can be healthy,” explains Paul.

They use roast pumpkin as a main substitute for both sugar and oil, making much of their baked products low in sugar and fat. They even use prunes in their chocolate brownies instead of butter.

Before you scoff at the substitution and call for the fat to be added back into your baked goods, give one a try -- we couldn’t tell the difference. Their fibrous brownies are moist and fresh -- everything a brownie should be.

The Bergmans also give back to the community and have teamed up with community development projects in China and Africa, including Shanghai’s Roots and Shoots’ Million Tree Project and a shade tree planting endeavor in Tanzania. 

“A lot of coco comes from the Ivory Coast where they have coco tree plantations and clear the land. We get ours from Tanzania, and we wanted to help preserve the local ecology with a shade tree planting project,” explains Paul. 

The purpose of these shade trees is two fold: because they plant fruit trees along with other native species, they are able to give additional food to the community and farmers while preserving the local ecology.

The Freshary's road to gold

The Freshary's kitchen and bakery in the SML Center, across from Tianzifang, is completely energy efficient and a model for other kitchens that want that coveted LEED gold star.

“The floor is from recycled bathroom tiles from old projects," explains Paul. “The paneling and cupboards were built with rapidly renewable materials -- like bamboo and wheat board. A few of the doors are made from old wood.” 

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Lighting is all LED and motion censored and the Kohler faucets are all low flowing, which meet the less than 1.6-liter per minute flow limit allowed by LEED.

And while they are proud to wear that gold star badge now, they were met with some unusual challenges in attaining it.

“First, hygiene standards are incredibly high. Secondly, because we have two different products -- ice cream and baked goods -- each product has to have its own preparation room.”

And because of building codes in China, “We had to have a seating area, selling area, baking area, packaging room, and ice cream production area, and two washrooms,” all within 30 square meters.

And to grab that LEED gold star, their washrooms also had to be energy efficient, with slow-flowing faucets and LED lighting. But since their small shop doesn’t have a bathroom, they were forced to convert the mall's small bathroom into a LEED-qualified restroom for their bakery. 

“It took three months to convince the landlord and owners of the building to let us convert their space,” Paul says.

But they did it. He’s confident that it’s because The Freshary was one of the earlier tenants in the building he was able to get it done. That’s dedication.

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Sara headed up the meticulous design task of the bakery.

Because The Freshary is so small, every centimeter of space had to be used. She compared the compartmentalization of their store to a Swiss Army Knife. Too bad not all Swiss Army Knives make organic muffins and ice cream. 

'Truly fresh'

Not only are the muffins and ice cream at The Freshary made fresh everyday, but so are the ingredients they use to make them.

The floor is from recycled bathroom tiles from old projects. The paneling and cupboards were built with rapidly renewable materials -- like bamboo and wheat board.— Paul Bergman, The Freshary founder

“We are truly fresh,” says both Paul and Sara.

During the afternoon shift of baking and preparation, employees sift through the seeds and wheat used to make the flour by hand, making sure that there isn’t any farm matter that could get caught in the grinders.

Then, during the morning shift that begins at 5:30 a.m., the seeds and wheat are freshly ground to make fresh flour. Then, they’re ready to bake. 

For the ice cream, the process for the Vanilla Soy also starts the night before, when they soak the soybeans. The next day, their ice cream maker, Mac Zhang, comes in and grinds the beans, making soy milk, which is then pasteurized.

The dry ingredients and sweeteners -- organic rice syrup, organic cane sugar, and organic root extract -- are then added before the mixture is pasteurized for a second time. Their second flavor is Black Sesame, made from black sesame seeds. The end result is creamy dairy-free and low-fat soft serve.

“Paul spent 14 months perfecting this recipe in our test kitchen,” explains Sara.

Although the Black Sesame is a different experience than your typical ice cream, it's delicious in its own right. 

Organic, vegan and almost kosher

While the ice cream is certified kosher, as blessed by local Rabbi Shalom Greenberg, the cones in which it’s served -- no cups to save on waste -- as well as the other baked goods aren’t quite; all ingredients except the oil are kosher.

“We’re going to be switching from organic canola oil to organic sunflower oil very soon,” says Paul. Rabbi Greenberg will inspect the facility where the oil is made and hopefully deem it kosher. 

Then, they’ll be the first and only organic, vegan and kosher bakery in China. Fitting that on their sign might take a bit more design magic. 

With products like the blueberry muffin, garlic pretzels and black sesame ice cream the Bergmans prove that you can eat healthily, be sustainable and give back to a community without sacrificing  flavor. But perhaps it is the giving back to another community that really is the most flavorful part of their bakery.