"Long Ago and Far Away....."
Over 2,000 years have passed since the laborers building the Great Wall of China pickled some cabbage in wine to supplement their diet of rice. Ghenghis Khan came along and took, among other things from China, quantities of the pickled cabbage to fortify his Tartars as they plundered their way through Europe.

"Das Is Goot!"
Germans liked the taste and dubbed the import sauerkraut, Teutonic for sour cabbage. They quickly began combining it with other foods. When sauerkraut was linked to the absence of scurvy among Dutch seamen, Captain James Cook stocked up for his global adventures.

"Captain Cook. The crew on the poop deck is hungry!"
This tasty new food was very popular among his men, kept well on long voyages and scurvy became a thing of the past.

"An Import of Great Import."
As the Germans and Dutch began colonizing America, they brought along their taste for sauerkraut, an ability to make it and an evergreen New Year's meal tradition: Families enjoying pork and sauerkraut on New Year's Day will have good fortune all year because pigs root forward signifying the coming year, and green cabbage leaves indicate money.

"Fast Forward to today..."
Cabbage is in the healthy food spotlight because nutritionists, medical researchers and doctors are saying it's good for you. A naturally tasty way to get your healthful servings of cabbage is, of course, sauerkraut (we've been saying that since we began packing sauerkraut almost 100 years ago).

Cabbage growing and sauerkraut processing have come a long way since those Chinese laborers fermented their cabbage in wine. The creation of Sauerkraut takes place in five basic steps:

1. Cabbage Farming - planting, cultivating and harvesting
2. Slaw Making - removal of outer leaves and cores, scrubbing, rinsing, shredding and salting
3. Fermentation - formation of lactic acid in huge sealed vats
4. Canning - cooking, cooling and sealing
5. Labeling and Packaging