Bone broth devotees have been preaching the wonders of the food for years now. Super models eat (drink?) it for its high protein and collagen content, improving their skin and hair. Kobe Bryant was the subject of an ESPN article where the basketball star largely credited bone broth with healing ankle sprains.

For Joanna Reule, whose Brave Bone Broth is now sold at Reid’s Fine Foods, bone broth was a helpful holdover for her husband during intermittent fasting. She was a skilled home cook; her grandmother owned a restaurant in Santa Barbara called Paula’s Place. Joanna learned how to make soups from scratch from her grandmother.

Her bone broth started as a chicken broth, made with carrots, celery, onion, and tomatoes. She added turkey to give the broth a little more depth, but it wasn’t until she added the grass-fed beef bones that she found her winning recipe.

Reule didn’t plan on selling her broth; the idea didn’t even come to her until after she saw the film Lion and sought a way to aid children in human trafficking. The film made Reule more aware of the terrors some children see in their lifetime.

“I have to do something,” she recalls thinking. “It just undid me.”

The next day, the idea for Brave Bone Broth popped into her head.

“Make bone broth — this healing, delicious product,” she thought, “and sell it, give the proceeds, and tell your story along the way.”

She reached out to her longtime butcher at Reid’s Fine Foods on Selwyn Avenue, who helped her secure Springer Mountain Farms chicken and turkey and organic, grass-fed beef bones from Proffitt Farms. She began slowly, cooking her broths and offering them for delivery. Reid’s owners were impressed by the idea, and agreed to sell it in their stores. As of two weeks ago, you can buy a cup of steaming hot Brave Bone Broth or purchase frozen pints to go at all Reid’s locations.

The broth is self-serve in a large airpot or carafe, though Reule says she’s still working with Reid’s to figure out where the broth should be in the store and whether customers should pour it themselves.

To give back, she donates 20 percent of proceeds to two charities fighting trafficking, one locally and one nationally: Present Age Ministries and the International Justice Mission.

“I love that people can buy bone broth and even if they don’t know where the money is going (or even if they do), it’s healing for themselves and for our community, our world,” she says.

Last weekend she made 300 pints of broth; it’s becoming a hot product at Reid’s. Reule says she’s unaware of anyone else in Charlotte that’s making bone broth, let alone one using local, organic meats.

Sitting with Reule over cups of her broth, it’s clear why the broth is popular. It’s got good flavor to it and packs 20 grams of protein even though it’s only 80 calories per pint. It doesn’t quite fill you up, but does feel filling. Cooked for 24 hours, the broths are packed with amino acids and minerals, which is one reason why they’re such a fast-growing health trend.

Despite only being in business 15 months, Reule says she’s already at a point where she needs to figure out how to grow. She’s leading cooking classes (we’ll keep them posted on our calendar as they happen), and someday hopes to open her own store, where she can sell broth bowls and offer more flavor options.

We’ll be following her when she does. —Kristen Wile

Unpretentious People Say...

Other Articles You Might Enjoy