People
Janeen and Rodrigo Cruz
Where
Oakland
About
Wife-and-husband duo Janeen and Rodrigo Cruz started Kuali in 2020 to stay connected to their Mexican heritage and culture. Janeen is the daughter of Mexican immigrants from El Ejido Hermosillo, Baja California, Mexico, and Rodrigo immigrated from México City over 20 years ago. At the farmers market, Kuali offers spicy, crunchy salsa macha, which originated in Veracruz, Mexico. The indigenous Totonac people ground dried chiles, sesame seeds, and salt, for a deeply flavorful paste. In modern times and across the diaspora, there are many variations of salsa macha, including Kuali’s oil-based recipe that was passed down to Rodrigo from his mother, Mely.
Sourcing
Kuali sources both locally from small farms and producers and in Mexico.
People
John Ginanni and Kaylyn Reyes, along with 4 employees
About
Spouses John and Kaylyn started Canteen Meats in 2020. The Bay Area natives were inspired by their travels in Europe a few years prior, where they volunteered and stayed at pig farms. John also worked USDA as a meat cutter and in salumi production. Now, Canteen Meats operates their own facility in Petaluma, where John and his crew slow-cure the meats, and Kaylyn manages their brand and design. At the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, Canteen Meats offers many cuts, including prosciutto, coppa, lomo, and all kinds of salami.
Sourcing
Canteen Meats sources from local ranchers, including Devil’s Gulch Ranch, Stemple Creek Ranch, Silver Sky Ranch, Liberty Ducks, Beffa Springs, and Pajaro Pastures. 100% of all the pork, beef, lamb, and duck are raised in CA – with the majority coming from their neighbors at the farmers market.
People
Sarah Germany, along with Diana Hernandez and a group of volunteers.
About
Sarah Germany has felt empowered by cooking since she was young, and she has taken on numerous culinary leadership roles in her East Bay community. She developed and managed Beyond Emanpication’s GROW Oakland Culinary Training Program, started The Food Commonwealth, a not-for-profit project supported by Planting Justice, and managed Youth Uprising’s Corners Cafe in East Oakland. Sarah also worked as a purveyor for Mandela Partners before joining their business incubation program.
Chef Sarah builds on Southern food traditions to create deeply flavorful medicinal foods, while preserving the bounty of California farms and gardens. Nearly all of her hot sauces have a medicinal property, as a digestive aid, decongestant, or anti-inflammatory.
Sourcing
Sarah sources from local farmers and community and school gardens.
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.
