“There are really no good choices out there,”  sighs Vicki Cleaves-Gregory. And so the owner of Pure Nut Mylk has dedicated the last year of her life and more working with the Florida Department of Agriculture to develop a new and improved, patent-pending process for making almond “milk” that blows the store-bought options out of the water. “How can you call your product almond milk when it contains less than two percent almonds?” she continues, noting that her Pure Nut Mylk contains, on average, 10 percent almonds, and none of the binders, fillers or emulsifiers that pack popular options. There’s a tradeoff in shelf life, Cleaves-Gregory admits, with her “mylk” lasting only about eight days in the fridge after opening, but she’s confident that the enhanced flavor makes it worth it. And with only four ingredients on the label—California almonds, filtered water, sea salt and a probiotic to lengthen the shelf life—she can give it to her kids all day. “Food can be a way to put the good stuff back in our bodies,” she says. Currently operating out of Your Culinary Place, a shared kitchen space in Gulf Gate, Pure Nut Mylk can now be found in the Sarasota Lucky’s Market. 

INSIDE THE SHARED KITCHEN SPACE IN GULF GATE. PHOTO BY WYATT KOSTYGAN