Local Loan Recipients

Whole Foods Market's Local Producer Loan Program has made over $3 million in loans so far. Below you can read more about our borrowers in different parts of the country.

View Recipients by State

AZ | CA | CO | FL | GA | MD | MN | MO | NC | NM | NV | NY | OH | OR | PA | TX | VA |

Loan Recipients: California

• 

  BTTR Ventures

  Emeryville, CA

  Check out BTTR Ventures on the Whole Story blog!

  Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez started BTTR (pronounced “better”) Ventures while in a business ethics class in UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. This unique business takes spent coffee grounds from area cafés, including Whole Foods Market’s Allegro coffee bars, and uses the grounds as a substrate for mushrooms; used substrate is then converted to compost. Their current products are oyster mushrooms and grow-your-own-mushroom kits; they also plan to offer shiitake mushrooms and kits. BTTR Ventures are using their loan to purchase equipment and expand into a 1000 ft2 space.
• 

  Coco Delice

  Oakland, CA

  Coco Delice is a small artisan chocolate company in the Bay Area specializing in dark gourmet chocolates. The company was founded by Dennis Kearney in 2005 and has grown steadily since then. Dennis used the loan funds for packaging & materials for a new product launch.
• 

  Coracao Confections

  El Cerrito, CA

  Daniel Korson and Matthew Rogers, two young entrepreneurs from the Bay Area, recently started Coracao Confections, a line of raw, organic versions of popular chocolates. Both Dan and Matthew have culinary training, and Matthew has been with the raw, vegan restaurant Café Gratitude since 2004. He has specialized in raw desserts and has been teaching classes on them since 2006.
  
  Coracao is the first true start-up to receive a Local Producer Loan. Daniel and Matthew used the loan funds to purchase ingredients and chocolate-making equipment, including a mixer, a heat sealer, and chocolate cases for use in our stores.
• 

  Dr. Melina

  San Francisco, CA

  Dr. Melina Jampolis is a board certified internist and physician nutrition specialist. She specializes in nutrition for weight loss and disease prevention and treatment. Dr. Jampolis is also a health and diet expert on CNN. In addition to having been quoted in a number of national publications, she hosted the 10-episode "Fit TV's Diet Doctor" program on the Discovery Network's FIT TV and has appeared on Regis and Kelly and on local news programs. Her first book, The No-Time-to-Lose-Diet, was released in January 2007.
  
  Dr. Melina, Inc.'s loan was used to help roll out her specially formulated protein bars and other products. Loan proceeds paid for a portion of the first-run manufacturing costs for the bar, wrappers, and cartons.
• 

  Mudslinger's Freestyle

  San Francisco, CA

  MaggieMudd is an independent ice cream shop that was started in 2003 in Bernal Heights in San Francisco. They have carved out a niche with their popular non-dairy ice creams and ice cream cakes. Their desserts are unique in that they use not only soy milk as a base, but also coconut milk. The company retails its non-dairy products in both pints and ice cream cake form as Mudslinger's Freestyle.
  
  Mudslinger's Freestyle's loan financed an expansion of this retail line. The majority of the funds went to pint printing, production, cold storage, and a cargo van. Bulk production has helped the company reduce costs and has given it the ability to expand into more markets.
• 

  NuttZo

  San Diego, California

  After adopting two malnourished boys from the Ukraine, Danielle LiVolsi started creating creative super-nutritious foods. NuttZo, an organic multi-nut butter high in Omega-3s, is the result of her research. It’s made with Valencia peanuts, flax seed, hazelnuts, cashews, almonds, Brazil nuts, and sunflower seeds. Danielle will be using her loan to purchase ingredients and manufacture product in order to expand into additional stores.

• Pitter Patties

  Sherman Oaks, CA

  Susan Stahly and Kerry Williams founded Pitter Patties in 2006 when they saw the need for all-natural, healthy, convenient meal choices for kids. Their muffin-shaped, handheld entrees for children are unique and have been a hit since they were introduced at Whole Foods Market in mid-2008. Moms themselves, Susan and Kerry use whole grains, antibiotic- and hormone-free meat, and no added white flour or sugar; they have vegan, gluten-free choices, as well. Pitter Patties used their loan to support demos in the stores to let even more customers know about their products.
• 

  Revolution Foods

  Emeryville, California

  Revolution Foods was founded in July 2006 to provide nutritious, tasty foods to school kids. The company currently provides over 1000 breakfasts, lunches, and after-school snacks every day in the Bay Area using sustainably-sourced, high quality, healthy foods. After meeting at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, the two owners deciding to combine their mutual experiences in education and food service by starting Revolution Foods.
  
  Their loan allowed them to launch their children's organic retail line, exclusive to Whole Foods Market, which features products such as fruit spreads, raisins, peanut butter, and applesauce. They hope to bring the success they have seen at Bay Area charter schools and after-school programs to the homes of families throughout the area, and possibly the rest of the country!
• 

  Righteously Raw

  San Diego, CA

  Earth Source founder Audrey Darrow is a breast cancer survivor who experienced firsthand the debilitating effects which chemotherapy, radical surgeries and long term radiation have on the body. Her research led her to raw, organic foods, and eventually to the creation of Righteously Raw. The company produces raw, organic chocolate with superfood fillings, inspired and motivated by Audrey's personal history. Audrey is using the loan to purchase a chocolate tempering tank and a chocolate measuring pump, which will help facilitate the production of a new flavor.
• 

  Saint Benoit Yogurt

  Davis, CA

  Benoit and David de Korsak, two French brothers, founded Saint Benoit Yogurt in 2004. Dedicated to the concept of “terroir,” Saint Benoit uses local ingredients, down to the fruit and the honey. The success of the product is in its uniqueness: yogurt made from local Jersey cows’ milk, packaged in a reusable, returnable ceramic container. They’ve been selling to Whole Foods Market since 2006 and are currently available throughout Northern California.
  
  Saint Benoit Yogurt used their Local Producer Loan funds to build a new production room, which has allowed them to increase their distribution.
• 

  Three Twins Ice Cream

  Petaluma, CA

  Three Twins Organic Ice Cream in 2005 started as an organic ice cream shop in San Rafael. In the following years owner Neal Gottlieb started selling at the farmers market, then in wholesale to restaurants, and finally to retail stores in pints. In March 2007, Neal attended a Whole Foods Market Local Producer Seminar in San Francisco; a few months later, Three Twins Ice Cream was available in our Cupertino store.
   
  Three Twins was rolled out to our entire Northern California region after the receipt of the Local Producer Loan, which was used to cover part of a larger project, the build-out of their 4,000-ft production facility. This location is helping them to increase the selection of flavors, lower the cost of their ice cream, and produce a lot more ice cream — 20 times more!
   
  In addition to making great ice cream, Three Twins embodies the environmental values that Whole Foods Market promotes. They use organic ingredients, offset their emissions, use compostable serving dishes, and are a member of 1% for the Planet.