People
Annie Wang
Where
Oakland
About
After working in food tech startups and nonprofits, Annie returned to her lifelong love of cooking and grew her love of baking when she started Little Moon Bakehouse (formerly Annie’s T Cakes) in 2021. As a Chinese-American, she is driven to diversify the food scene and make environmentalism irresistible in the form of her classic Asian delicacies.
At the farmers market, Little Moon Bakehouse offers Taiwanese pineapple cakes, the famous almond cookies that she served at San Francisco’s premiere of Everything Everywhere All At Once, and her signature mooncakes. Little Moon Bakehouse can be found at farmers markets in the Bay Area, events, and online at littlemoonbakehouse.com for shipping nationwide (select items).
People
Anil Godhwani, Marco Giron, and Julie Craft, along with about 50 part-time employees.
Farmland
90 acres in Brentwood, about 55 miles from San Francisco
About
Anil has been interested in fruits, vegetables, and the outdoors since he was a kid. He grew up visiting the outdoor Subzi Mandi (vegetable market) in Delhi, India, with his dad. Since immigrating to the United States 30 years ago, he’s always found his way to farmers markets, but noticed a few things were harder to find, like mulberries. In the early 2000s, he planted a few trees in his backyard and shared the fruits with friends and family. After noticing how mulberries ignited a nostalgic fondness for so many, he was motivated to grow them on a larger scale. He teamed up with his brother, Gautam, and friend, Smita, and together they started Habitera Farms in Brentwood and created the brand Very Mulberry. The farm hosts a popular U-pick in May and June.
People
Tony Adams along with 2 full- and 4 part-time employees
About
Mill Valley Pasta Co. was born in 2020, as a way for Chef Tony Adams to feed his friends and neighbors near and far. As one of the only dried pasta companies in the Bay Area, Mill Valley Pasta Co. sources local organic ingredients as much as they can for their pastas and provisions. Mill Valley Pasta Co. opened a retail store in Downtown Mill Valley, an addition to their factory store in San Rafael.
Sourcing
Now producing more than 1500 pounds of pasta weekly at his pasta shop in San Rafael, Tony maintains relationships with local farms to keep the focus on what’s fresh and local when creating bronze-cut, air-dried pastas. In addition to using domestic Organic Semolina, they also source locally grown and milled ancient grains from Honore Farm and Mill in Larkspur.
People
Azikiwee Anderson and about 20 full-time employees
Where
San Francisco, 1.5 miles to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
About
Rize Up Bakery is a fledgling San Francisco-based Black-owned micro bakery focused on reinventing and rethinking traditional sourdough. Before pushing bread boundaries by innovating Rize Up Bakery’s sourdough flavors like Ube, Gochujang, and Garlic Confit, Z channeled his culinary skills into his career as a private chef. When the pandemic started in March 2020, he shifted gears to stay home with his kids, and he tried his hand at making sourdough. In the time of civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, Z’s experimentation with sourdough also became an important salve for his state of mind. Before he knew it, baking one loaf a week turned into 500 a day as he filled orders from the Bay Area to Brooklyn.
People
Brand and Laura Little along with their team
About
Fishing started as a weekend hobby for Brand Little, but it turned into business when he and his wife, Laura, decided to start selling at their hometown farmers market in Auburn, California. Two decades and six boats later, they bring their wild-caught seafood to over 20 farmers markets across the state.
The Little Fish Company proudly catches and sources wild seafood to bring to the farmers market. They use their commercial fishing vessel and collaborate with friends to bring the oceans bounty directly to farmers markets. Everything is delivered fresh and natural, from wild salmon to sea scallops, albacore tuna, California halibut, butterfish, petrale sole, and more. Their only flash frozen offering is wild caught King salmon, which can be enjoyed during the off-season.
Brand Little has an Experimental Fishing Permit with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. These permits allow local crabbers affected by closures of the commercial crab season to crab with special gear that limits or eliminates interactions with whales.
People
Sierra Young, along with 1 full- and 3 part-time employees
About
Inspired by her love of mangoes, Sierra started developing Mangosay during 2020. With support from Mandela Partners, a West Oakland based nonprofit that supports BIPOC entrepreneurs, she scaled up her recipes and business. Mangosay started popping up at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in 2022 and joined as a permanent vendor in 2023. From her signature orange mobile mango cart, she serves up non-dairy mango smoothies, mango juice (which she presses fresh the same morning), and seasonal treats such as mango sticky buns and green mango noodles.
Sourcing
Mangosay sources mangoes from Southern California (seasonal supply), Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil.
People
Michael Dellar and Mark Dommen
About
Michael Dellar grew up around great Jewish food. Not only did his mother, Harriett, make crowd-pleasing favorites, but, as a boy, Michael and his friends were regulars at Nate ‘n Al’s delicatessen in Beverly Hills. As a successful restaurateur, Michael leaned into his Jewish food roots five years ago when he asked his talented chef/partner Mark Dommen to make matzo ball soup for a Passover menu at One Market Restaurant. Mark, borrowing from one of his mother Maria’s recipes, exceeded all expectations by making the best matzo ball soup Michael had ever tasted. That was the beginning of what would become Mark ’n Mike’s, a New York-style deli where each simple dish is taken to its tastiest best, without pretension.
Sourcing
Mark ‘n Mike’s sources fresh ingredients from the farmers market when possible and from other local vendors that they have built relationships with though One Market Restaurant.
People
Mandela Partners is a nonprofit organization that uses food as a tool for local residents, family farmers, and community-based businesses that have been historically oppressed to build wellness, wealth, and economic opportunities in their own neighborhoods.
Where
Oakland, 14 miles to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
About
Founded in 2004 in West Oakland, CA, Mandela Partners was established to fill a gap created by long standing inequities: a challenging local food environment, a racist legacy of redlining and economic disinvestment, and limited opportunities for quality jobs, small business support, and long-term wealth building. For new business owners, the nonprofit’s Food Business Pathways Program helps them start, test, and grow their business. Through the Building Equity program, Foodwise partners with Mandela Partners to host local food entrepreneurs in popping up at the farmers market to connect with the larger Bay Area community.
Their programs also include: produce distribution programs that bring fresh fruits and vegetables from small, BIPOC-owned farms to Oakland and surrounding food-insecure communities; culinary training for community members facing barriers to employment, with a focus on those returning home after incarceration; workshops, mentorship, and resources for small food business owners and entrepreneurs; and culturally-relevant wellness education. Over the past 19 years, Mandela Partners has distributed over 2 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables, generated nearly $10 million in local economic returns, partnered with dozens of fellow community organizations, and worked with tens of thousands of community members to improve their health and wellness, economic stability, or both
