In new business, Roxbury couple heats up sauces to ‘reinvent’ what people perceive as healthy

Their three zesty, versatile sauces can be found in four local food stores: New Morning Market in Woodbury, Smithy’s in New Preston, and Maple Bank Farm and Roxbury Market in their hometown of Roxbury. Their products are also available at Lisa1973.com and this summer at the Washington Farmer’s Market.

With the sauces, Roberts Hurd said their goal is “to reinvent the taste experience of what people perceive as healthy.’”

The company’s name is a nod to her birth year. The couple’s three signature food sauces bear names that echo the 1970s, as well.

Groovy Zest is a hot honey-lemon sauce while Studio Fifty-Fresh is flavored with Thai basil.

Disco Spice and Everything Nice combines cilantro and jalapeno seasonings.

The Hurds and their company whip up their three sauces at two local kitchens certified for commercial-food preparation.

Roberts Hurd said food has been, literally, her life’s work. Her very first job during high school and college was at a food and vegetable stand run by Rosedale Farms in Simsbury. She went on to earn a master’s degree in archaeology from Oxford University and now is a culinary archaeologist — her academic background is focused on ancient foods and wine.

She’s also a trained chef and pursued sidelines as both a sommelier — a wine specialist, and as a fromager — a cheese expert.

This passion for food took a more critical turn about 15 years ago when Roberts Hurd was diagnosed with celiac disease, fibromyalgia and bronchial asthma. All those conditions are autoimmune disorders with links to diet and food.

To cope, she turned to her academic background. She learned additives and packaged foods have been linked to a host of maladies.

“I began practicing food as medicine, eating only organic foods and my health did a 180,” she said. “Suddenly, I felt better than I had for my entire life.”

In 2008, Roberts Hurd met her spouse, Kristin Hurd, who subsequently developed a health crisis of her own.

“I was diagnosed with a congenital cardiac condition and underwent open heart surgery in 2010,” Kristin Hurd said. “I was just 38 years old at the time.”

The couple initially lived in Jersey City, N.J., and later in Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York. Roberts Hurd launched a consultancy called Food.Body.Soul, while Kristin Hurd focused on a career in real estate.

Through Food.Body.Soul, Roberts Hurd teaches for Stanford University’s BeWell and Healthy Living Programs. She also conducts wellness and nutrition workshops for a variety of businesses and nonprofits.

Establishing the business

The Hurds and their young son moved to Roxbury prior to the pandemic and said they dedicated themselves to launching their new business.

The months of isolation during 2020 gave them time to do research and tinker with recipes. “I’ve learned that even if a product is marketed and sold as healthy, it can still contain a host of ingredients that aggravate inflammation,” Kristin Hurd said.

Groovy Zest was their first sauce creation. Studio Fifty-Fresh owes its existence to a pandemic trip the couple took to Bay Village, Ohio, to visit Kristin’s Hurd’s mother — whose bumper crop of Thai basil gave them its ingredients.

The third and most recent sauce variety, Disco Spice and Everything Nice, incorporates flavors from Mexican food.

Next up for the couple will be a cookbook of Lisa’s 1973 recipes.

Launching any new product has pitfalls and, to cite just one example, supply issues forced the Hurds to switch from glass to plastic bottles for their sauces.

Their bottle supplier makes a recyclable, BPA-free plastic bottle, Roberts Hurd said. A BPA-free product is one that doesn’t use the organic compound Bisphenol A in its construction.

The couple said as demand for the new sauces has heated up, they’re seeing a need to staff up — with a focus on operations at the two commercial kitchens.

The couple credit the encouragement, support and, frequently, helpful advice from friends, neighbors and the community in getting Lisa’s 1973 off the ground.

“The community here has been phenomenal. Their hearts and arms have been open and supportive, and for that we are so grateful,” Roberts Hurd said.