Our Sourcing Criteria, Passion, & Mission.
We're religious about good food!
Our founders grew up in Europe, where strict food standards exist not just in culture but law. We take a philosophical approach to making sure that we look for the best tasting tomatoes that are good for you, the planet, and our regional ecosystem.
- We’re focused on local farmers and growers: When it's in season, nearly 100% of our produce is locally grown. There are big advantages to this approach. It means your food is fresh, grown in California backed by strong laws, ethics, soil, and a community of sustainable, organic farmers. It also means a smaller carbon footprint, lower transit costs, and importantly, less waste. You order your groceries and we tell our farmers what we need, so produce can stay ripening like it should. We are proving that local isn't just better tasting and better for the planet, but also saves money - we get your premium organic produce at less than what conventional stores sell old produce for, that's often grown with pretty toxic chemicals.
- We are foodies, taste matters. Organic often means better taste, but that isn't enough. When restaurant owners and chefs buy from us, it makes a different standard. Know that we are in constant dialogue with our farmers, so we know when crops are being affected and work to adjust sourcing to keep the best coming to your table.
- Our farmers work together and this matters. Our farmers are driving ecological sustainability: We work with farmers that understand bees, biodiversity, and water tables. These farmers care about each other, wildlife, and you. We love to tell their stories and advocate supporting these pioneers
- We work with some of the best restaurants and grocery stores around, helping them to stock their shelves with great products from here in California and around the globe.
Transparency
The growers we work with directly must be fully transparent, and be open to site visits.
Where applicable, all growers and suppliers we work with demonstrate compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act.
Organic
As the movement for organic and local grows, we're confident we can provide 100% organic. When something isn't available because of seasonality or pests etc, we still try to source local from the best possible farms. If something is labeled organic, we put a huge standard on this. We treat this as an extension of our mission.
Our farmers above the rest:
To be considered, our farmers agree not to operate using any of the following. It's a shame that with other food systems you need to worry about such things, but with us, you can rest easy knowing these are off the table.
- 1,3-D (Telone)
- 2,4-D
- AtrazineEPA Toxicity Class I (highly hazardous) pesticides
- EPA Toxicity Class II (moderately hazardous) pesticides
- Glyphosate (Roundup)
- Irradiation treatment
- Neonicotinoids
- Paraquat
- Methyl Bromide
We onboard all of our team members around these concepts. We celebrate farmers, innovation, and sustainability in our warehouse, and every team member has 50 dollars of weekly produce they take home, so they can learn about the same products you're consuming. We see our work as part of a movement - local organic should be accessible to all, and we're happy to play a part in making this a reality.