Proyecto Diaz Coffee to Transition Out of Ferry Plaza in New Year
December 12, 2024
Proyecto Diaz Coffee will be saying goodbye to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in the New Year, as they focus on operating their cafe in Oakland and expanding their wholesale and retail business. Joining Foodwise in 2020, they have been a warm and friendly presence on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, pouring carefully roasted coffee from the Diaz family farm in Mexico and other sustainable, small-scale growers.
Their last Saturday market will be December 21, then they will be taking a break December 24-28 and back for one last Tuesday on December 31. Stock up on coffee beans and join us in wishing them the best and thanking them for keeping our market community “caffeinated with purpose” these last five years.
“To say it has been a pleasure to work with Fern, Hannah-Love, and the entire Proyecto Diaz team would be an understatement,” says Foodwise Director of Operations Lulu Meyer. “They joined us at the start of 2020 when the world was such a different place, and despite a global pandemic and the growing pains that come with a burgeoning business, they brought their hearts and souls to our markets every week. I’m sad to see them go, but I have been so happy to watch their growth and success over the last four years. I wish them all the best and they will always be a joyous part of our market history!“
Fernando and Hannah-Love Diaz shared this message:
It’s been almost five years since we first started at the Foodwise Ferry Building Farmers Market—January 21, 2020, right before the world shut down.
The world was very uncertain at that time. Nobody was sure if their business would survive, and in a matter of days our wholesale business (our main revenue stream) saw a 70% decrease in sales. With a stroke of fortune we were now part of the Foodwise Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and our coffee booth at the market helped us stay afloat. As we all settled into the new normal, we began to build our stride and stayed focused on serving the market and community.
In these past five years we’ve developed a rich community. Our Foodwise friends who work tirelessly to keep the market the best market in SF, our vendor friends who share their bounty with us, and friends that have now moved across the country, across the world … many still keeping in touch. We’ve seen customers through various stages of life, through happiness and through grief. Some have married, some have experienced loss, and others have brought new life into the world. It’s been a true joy seeing and remembering each customer’s favorite coffee order throughout the years.
As a vendor at Foodwise we’ve had the ability to hone in on our operations, our menu, and our vision for what future iterations of Proyecto Diaz Coffee could look like. We’ve made it our goal to be the friendliest coffee folks you’ll meet, instilling this into our teammates and always striving to remember our customers’ drinks and names, ensuring they feel known. We’ve also made it our goal to focus on Latin American coffee and ingredients. Our coffee booth gave us the ability to introduce drinks like Champurrado and Cafe de Olla lattes, two ubiquitous drinks within the Latin American experience.
Foodwise gave us a platform where we could personally showcase our passion for our family heritage. There, we were woven into a diverse fabric of other producers, many of whom share similar struggles and passions to those of our own family growing coffee. The vendors become a second family with whom we commiserated over similar small business woes and victories. Foodwise and staff championed for our success, expressed their appreciation for our drinks, and always made sure we were taken care of.
Every season has a start and an end, and December 21 will be our last Saturday at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Our team will be taking a holiday break December 24-28 and WON’T be at the market, but we’ll be back one final time to close out the year with you on December 31.
As the years and various seasons have gone by we’ve grown our wholesale and roasting operations and opened our first brick-and-mortar cafe in Oakland, and have now entered the next season of our business—focusing on expanding our wholesale coffee roasting program and retail presence.
We’re forever grateful for the memories we’ve made, the lessons we’ve learned, and the tenacity that we’ve developed during our time at Foodwise. We’re forever grateful for the endless support we’ve gotten from the Foodwise team, always lending a hand, encouraging us, and becoming sincere friends. We’re forever grateful for our customers that have stood in long lines, championed our business, and become friends. And we’re going to miss our vendor friends, a gathering of makers and producers, each vending with a genuine grit and love for their produce and craft. And finally, we’re forever grateful to be an alumni of this amazing community and organization.
Our vision is to rebuild and revitalize farms and legacies. Thank you for being part of our rebuilding efforts and our legacy.
In caffeinated spirits,
The PDC Crew
P.S. Don’t be a stranger! We’d love to see you at our Oakland cafe (1416 20th St.). We’re open 8 am-4 pm, Monday through Saturday, or we’re always just a DM away on Instagram (@proyectodiaz) so click that follow button.
Topics: Market Transitions