The Froot Guy: How Astral Eatz Is Turning Northeast Ohio’s Harvest Into Something Unexpected
It’s Saturday morning and curious market-goers peek into Branden’s tent. They raise an intrigued eyebrow at the jars and packages labeled Mars Dusted Apples, Melon Cotton Candy, and Dragon Frōōt.
As their eyes linger on the galaxy tablecloth and bright labels, Branden invites them in. He offers them samples of his product: a variety of freeze-dried fruit, much of it sourced from Northeast Ohio producers, many of whom are also vendors at the Cuyahoga Valley Farmers Market.
Branden has a simple way of describing his niche: “I am the Froot Guy.”
As customers ooh, aah, and contemplate the unexpected textures and flavors they’re experiencing, Branden explains that freeze-drying helps retain the fruit’s nutritional value while giving it a unique flavor and texture with no added sugar.
At Astral Eatz, Branden isn’t just selling freeze-dried fruit. He’s inviting people to discover something new and maybe rethink what healthy food can be. That philosophy comes from somewhere personal. For Branden, food has never been just about flavor; it has been part of a lifelong search for health.
A Search for Health
Healthy eating is a cornerstone of Branden’s life. In his late teens and early 20s, Branden experienced a serious gut-health crisis, marked by extreme pain, bleeding and major weight loss. At one point, he weighed less than 100 pounds.
Looking back on that period, Branden describes himself as, “Just the quiet kid at the back of the classroom with sensitive emotions and a sensitive tummy. All that mirrored it. I just didn’t know it at the time.”
Eventually, Branden learned he had Crohn’s disease. He underwent colon resection surgery and embarked on a journey of healthy eating as a way to reclaim his health and body.
“You know, health is wealth, and I found that through diet, and through mental and emotional health,” he said.
Following that experience, Branden spent 11 years as a whole-food vegan, six of those years as a fruitarian. Along the way, Branden met farmers, discovered an abundance of fresh food, and found peace in his physical and emotional health.
During that time, Branden also developed an interest in health coaching and nutrition.
“The idea was to use my health experience and what I learned through diet and healthy lifestyle to extend that to others. I use what I learned to coach others who are struggling through trying to find something to eat,” he explained.
Eventually, that mission moved from coaching to creating a product people could take home.
Photo courtesy of Astral Eatz
Why Freeze-Drying?
For Branden, the answer comes back to two things: nutrition and abundance. How do you preserve all that Northeast Ohio produces when the harvest arrives faster than people can eat it?
According to Branden, freeze-drying is one of the best modern-day preservation methods. It maintains much of the nutritional value, in addition to giving an interesting texture and enhancing flavors.
“That’s like the foundation of this business—my secret way of providing health for others. If I can get the maximized nutrition out of something, that’s why I chose the freeze-drying process,” he said.
Beyond nutrition, it’s an excellent way to extend a season’s harvest. When properly stored, freeze-dried fruit can last an extraordinarily long time.
Something Unexpected at Every Turn
When a customer steps into Branden’s tent, they aren’t just tasting fruit. They’re surprised with unique textures and flavors: airy watermelon, crunchy berries, chewy jackfruit and colorful produce that looks almost fresh despite having been freeze-dried.
Much of what Branden sells begins with the region’s farmers, with local produce making its way from Northeast Ohio fields into his freeze-dryer alongside more exotic fruits from farther afield.
Possibility and discovery are central to the experience at his booth. As shoppers stop to browse, he invites them in: “You’re always welcome to come up here and just try things,” he says.
From there, the conversation often expands beyond the samples themselves. Customers ask what dragon fruit is, wonder about different textures, and ask which fruits might be best for kids.
A parent asked Branden what he recommends for children. Another customer described the melon as “kind of weird—in a good way.” Others marvel at the crunch and textures of fruits that look fresh, even after the freeze-drying process.
Photo courtesy of Astral Eatz
What Customers Don’t See
But behind the Mars dust, bubblegum-like jackfruit and surprised reactions, running a freeze-dried fruit business has its challenges.
The two biggest challenges, Branden says, are processing fruit quickly enough to keep up with demand and figuring out how to scale without taking a huge leap of faith.
“My mission is so important to me that I cannot process fast enough for who I provide for,” he explains.
And that’s on top of the more typical challenges of running a product-based business: broken machines, manual processes, and the sheer amount of time and energy required to create each package.
The booth may look playful, but the work behind it is anything but simple. There’s the freeze-drying itself, followed by weighing, stickering, adding an oxygen absorber, sealing and packaging each individual bag.
But Branden’s mantra is “health is wealth,” and his desire to bring nutritious food to the community keeps him moving through the tedious processes and inevitable obstacles of running a business.
A Place That Helped Him Heal
Branden’s mission and business eventually brought him back to the Cuyahoga Valley area. He grew up enjoying the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, exploring its trails and quieter corners.
As an adolescent and young adult navigating a difficult and painful health journey, he often felt alone and disconnected from his peers. He turned to nature for solace and support.
When it comes to explaining why he started a business, became a vendor, and chooses to support the local community, his answer is simple:
“This is the place that helped me be healthier in the head,” he reflects.
His goal with Astral Eatz is to help community members, especially the youth, discover healthy food in a way that feels accessible, interesting and fun. Now, setting up his tent at Howe Meadow and sharing Northeast Ohio’s harvest with the community feels like a full-circle moment.
When Everything Comes at Once
As fall draws near, Branden is about to get a lot busier.
“Fall harvest—everything comes at once. What do we do with it?” he laughs. His solution? Freeze-dry it.
This is where Astral Eatz can play a unique role in the local food system: preserving the harvest with local partners and showing customers new ways to enjoy it.
In the coming weeks, Branden is looking forward to an abundance of local produce: apples from Huffman Fruit Farm, grapes and Asian pears from Weymouth Farms & Orchard, and some of Northeast Ohio’s best sweet corn, tomatoes, and more from local farmers.
More Than a Snack
Sometimes Branden sells a product without knowing exactly how customers will use it. Then they come back and tell him.
Freeze-dried fruit is great for snacking on. But what about some of the other products, like freeze-dried corn or tomatoes?
Branden says customers have come up with countless creative ways to use his products. Freeze-dried tomatoes can replace the bread-based crunch of a crouton with a fresh twist, or be crushed into a powder and used as a seasoning, bringing the flavor of the summer harvest beyond the typical salad or soup.
Freeze-dried corn makes an easy snack, but customers can also add it to taco night or use it to enhance cornbread and salsa.
What starts as something unexpected in a brightly labeled bag is, for Branden, part of something much bigger: a way to preserve the harvest, support local farmers and help people see food a little differently.
“I am inspired to just want to feed the world and be healthy. So my passion, my mission will continue and I’ll keep going, and I will go harder,” he says.
Find the Froot Guy
Stop by Astral Eatz at the Cuyahoga Valley Farmers Market at Howe Meadow and see what Branden has on the table that week. There’s usually something familiar, something unexpected and, of course, something worth trying.
Come for the samples, stay for the conversation, and maybe leave with a bag of Mars Dusted Apples or another Astral Eatz creation. You can find Branden at the Cuyahoga Valley Farmers Market every Saturday.
Photo courtesy of Astral Eatz