By: Kelvin Yu

On a Saturday morning at a Los Angeles farmers’ market, shoppers pause between fruit stands and handmade soaps to sip something warm brewed from whole fruit. Some linger, some ask questions, some close their eyes for a moment as if tasting a memory. It’s a small scene, but it reflects a growing trend happening across California: wellness is becoming simpler, slower, and perhaps more personal.

For Kellie Sun and Choosh Yu, co-founders of Erbal, the movement doesn’t seem like a trend; it feels like an ongoing conversation with the community. Weekend after weekend, they meet people seeking something natural, grounding, and uncomplicated.

“I hear people say they want wellness that feels human,” Sun reflects. “Not aspirational, not perfect, just something they can return to every day.”

A Designer’s Eye Turned Toward Wellness

Before co-founding Erbal, Sun spent years working in design, where observing human behavior and noticing small details were part of her everyday work. That skillset quietly shaped Erbal from the beginning, not in a strategic or corporate way, but in how she intuitively paid attention to what people held, asked, or gravitated toward.

“Design teaches you to notice, not just what people say, but how they react, what they reach for, what makes them pause,” she says. “It made me realize that wellness isn’t only about ingredients. It’s also about experience and emotion.”

At markets, Sun often notices tiny cues:

The way someone’s shoulders relax when they smell something familiar, or how their expression softens when they sip something warm after a long week.

Those small human moments became part of Erbal’s identity—gentle, warm, and familiar.

Wellness as a Community Conversation

Customers often share personal stories: balancing stress, dealing with fatigue, looking for caffeine-free options, or wanting to feel more connected to themselves. Many also seek ways to improve their overall well-being, mental clarity, and emotional health. Some are navigating the challenges of modern life, looking for simpler ways to incorporate wellness into their busy routines. Sun listens with the same attentiveness she once brought to user interviews and product testing, paying close attention to the underlying needs that people sometimes don’t have the words to express.

“I think design made me sensitive to the unspoken things,” she says. “Sometimes someone doesn’t know the exact word for what they need. But you can feel it.”

That sensitivity helped shape Erbal’s approach: simple brewing rituals, whole fruit, ingredients people recognize, packaging that feels calming instead of overwhelming.

Simplicity That Aligns with Broader American Values

Although Erbal’s story is rooted in California, the movement reflects a wider trend toward accessible preventative wellness across the nation. Doctors and nutritionists encourage hydration, reducing sugar intake, and adopting sustainable wellness routines that can easily fit into everyday life. Community markets are increasingly emphasizing local sourcing and transparency in their practices. Younger consumers are also becoming more mindful of packaging waste, seeking out natural ingredients and products that align with their environmental and health-conscious values.

Erbal fits naturally into that cultural landscape, not because it was designed to, but because its values grew from real conversations with real people.

“People want wellness that supports their life instead of competing with it,” Sun says. “That’s something we hear everywhere.”

A Movement with Roots in Everyday Life

Spend time at any California market and the feeling is unmistakable: warm drinks shared between friends, neighbors pausing just to check in, customers returning not only because of the product, but because they feel seen.

“It’s quiet wellness,” Sun smiles. “It’s small rituals, familiar smells, slow brewing. It feels like home.”

In a time when many Americans are looking for sustainable habits and genuine connection, this kind of community-centered wellness is becoming part of everyday life, one cup at a time.