Meet East Fork

Mar 4, 2025

At Narrative Food, each of our gifts is designed to tell a story. We have worked with hundreds of vendors over the years, listening to their stories and sharing them with you. In this new series, we are honored to spotlight a few of our favorite small-batch makers in their own words.

Read our interview with Coeta Hernandez at East Fork.

Tell us a little bit about you and your role at East Fork.

Here at East Fork, I manage our sales to wholesalers, hospitality partners, and folks interested in corporate gifting.

Can you tell us more about the story of East Fork?

East Fork has been around since 2009. In the early days, it just looked like a few potters throwing pots on the wheel and firing in a wood kiln. Our Founder and CEO, Alex Matisse, along with John Vigeland and Connie Matisse, eventually built East Fork into a company that now employs over 100 people in Asheville, North Carolina.

Can you talk about your community in Asheville and some of the nonprofits you partner with?

Community partnership has been central to East Fork since the early days. It's taken on different shapes over the years, but highlighting and supporting the organizations in our community that are doing on-the-ground work will always be a priority. After Asheville was hit by Hurricane Helene, East Fork went back to our long-time partner, BeLoved Asheville, as well as PODER Emma and Equal Plates, and directed 5% of our sales to support the recovery work they were leading. This year, we’ve committed to donate 1% of sales to our community partners. This quarter, that partner is Swannanoa Communities Together.

Tell us about East Fork's mugs (and candles — our favorite) and how they are produced.

The Mug is our best seller and for good reason. It is iconic East Fork. Once you drink from one, you end up replacing all of your mugs with The Mug. Making the Mug is pretty labor intensive. Mug handles are made in a mold and then attached by hand in a process (that’s incredibly soothing to watch). Then they’re fired in the bisque kiln, moved to our second warehouse in Asheville, glazed by our in-house glaze team, and fired again before making their way through quality control. Here’s a great video that shows the journey of a product from start to finish at East Fork.

Our candle bodies are made at our factory in Asheville and then shipped up to Joya Studios in Brooklyn. Their team pours the candles and ships them back to us. We develop scents with their team of experts and bring in seasonal scents every few months. My personal favorite (available year-round) is Still Life.

How did East Fork decide to certify as a B Corp in 2021? And how has it advanced your mission as an impact-driven company? And which impact area(s) do you focus on?

East Fork has been a values-centered business since day one. We wanted to pledge and be held accountable to making decisions that lead to positive impacts on employees, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. The B Corporation status is a commitment to keep working for the betterment of everyone and everything our business touches.

Tell us about a favorite food memory.

I grew up in a multi-generational home with my paternal grandmother living in the room next to mine. She would make dinner for us, and occasionally, when we were lucky, peanut butter fudge. She’d always store the fudge in a lidded jar from my parents' wedding china. I’d sneak into the china cabinet, lift the top of the jar, and sneak a piece (or two) before anyone would notice. Turns out I wasn’t as stealthy as I thought – they always noticed. It’s the simple stuff (like 4-ingredient peanut butter fudge) that holds the most meaning.