Meet the Maker: Libra Foods

Libra Foods

Walt Thames was born into the food industry. His dad and granddad owned a Tom’s Snacks distributorship. His granddad owned a grocery store and his great uncle was a farmer. He grew up shucking corn, shelling peas and pecans, and picking peanuts from their roots, as well as stocking shelves and sweeping the warehouse floor. In 1996 Walt attended Cordon Vert, the British Vegetarian Society’s cooking school in Manchester, England. There he fell in love with Indian food. Later that year he began cooking at Laughing Seed Cafe in downtown Asheville where in 1998 he created their “Indian Plate”(later to be renamed “Walt’s Indian Plate”) and made it everyday until 2006. In the following years he worked in the beer and wine industry and on an organic vegetable farm in Weaverville, NC. He attended Julie Sahni’s Indian Cooking School in Brooklyn, NY in 2016. In 2020 Walt started Libra Foods, makers of Libra Cashews, a product he’s been making since the “Walt’s Indian Plate” days.

Libra Foods makes Libra Cashews, a spicy fried cashew available in Original or Extra Spicy.