How Salt and Sugar can lift a moment, and even a life.
“Cooking has always been how I connect with people,” says Ivy Watrous, founder of The Salted Roots, a small-batch salt and sugar business she runs with her husband, Koby Sommer. “I dream about food and how it can inspire a feeling — how one flavor can lift a moment, and even a life,” she adds.
It’s a dream that began in Ivy’s childhood. At just eight years old, she was cooking full meals for her family, experimenting with bold, spicy, and floral flavors, tasting and layering until each dish felt alive. Years later, on her first date with Koby, she seasoned steaks with her first salt — a creation infused with red wine. One taste and Koby was hooked. “I knew she had something special,” he says, smiling.
Today, Ivy and Koby work side by side, selling their handcrafted salts and sugars at farmers markets, specialty shops, and restaurants across Utah.
Each blend is crafted with care, layered with flavor, and infused with full reductions of herbs, citrus, spirits and spices. The process is purposeful, often involving hours of hand peeling and chopping, smoking and drying. “We’ve chosen the hardest path for every product we make,” Ivy says, “but it’s the only way that feels true to us and to our community. We want every salt and sugar to bring joy into a person’s life.”
“The vision for Summer Salt came to me in winter as I thought: who wouldn’t crave a sprinkle of the lighthearted days of summer?” says Ivy, with a laugh. “So, I turned a fresh peach salad into salt, and it’s been flying off the shelf!”
“And the Giving Thanks Salt is everything that’s in my grandma’s stuffing,” she adds. “We hope it evokes memories of the best of childhood for those who try it.”
For longtime customer Jessica Hutchins, it was the Breakfast Salt that became part of a moment she’ll never forget.
“When I first met Ivy at the Ogden Farmers Market, I shared my passion for her flavors, but I was so broke,” she recalls. “I had just returned from a long stay with my mom, who was very ill, and I had just lost my teaching job. Still, Ivy offered me that jar of salt for so little. We hugged and cried — it was such a kind gesture.”
And when Jessica got back to teaching and felt more settled, she turned to none other than Ivy’s original Red Wine Salt to liven up an old family recipe for potato salad — one she hoped would brighten her still ailing mom.
“The citrus, herbs and hint of pepper were the perfect complement to the dish,” shares Jessica. “And it’s pink, which just happens to be my mom’s favorite color!”
“When my mom took a taste, she smiled and said, ‘It’s perfect, just the way I remember it! I have more life in me, Jessie, and I am going to get better.’”
“That moment was a turning point,” Jessica says, her voice catching. “My mom actually started taking care of herself again. That little jar of salt became part of something so much bigger.”
Marissa Anderson also found The Salted Roots at the Ogden Farmers Market. “I remember buying two jars of salt that day,” she says. “I went home, tried them, and fell in love. I went back every weekend after that and bought every single flavor that Ivy and Koby make!”
Now, Marissa uses the salts and sugars every day — Summer Salt on roasted vegetables, Red Rock Zen on stir-fries, Lavender Luau Sugar for tea and cookies, and the Red Wine Salt simply has a permanent place on her table. She brings them as gifts to family gatherings, sharing them like small pieces of home. “Each one is like bringing the spirit of Ivy and Koby into everyone’s lives,” she says.
And then there’s PIKO Mexican Grill, a small, welcoming spot with a Southwest vibe, and the first restaurant to feature The Salted Roots on its drink menu. For Ivy, PIKO carries her back to her grandpa. “He was like a father to me, and he’s the reason I have such a love of bold, spicy flavors. He would be so proud to see our products here,” she says softly.
Behind the bar, their Tequila Salt dresses the vibrant PIKO Margarita, Thai Basil Salt elevates the smoky mezcal in the PIKO Paloma, and Bluebird Dandelion Sugar finishes the delicate, floral Lila Fina. “When you taste the PIKO Margarita,” says General Manager Jon Hazelbaker, “it transports you to a beach in Mexico, and customers rave about it.”“We wouldn’t be where we are today without all of the great people who have touched our lives,” says Ivy. “They have become our friends and part of our family. They inspire our sense of purpose and remind us why we chose this path. The Salted Roots will always be here for them.”
Feature Image by Koby Sommer.
