Spring Brings New Vendors to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

Brie Mazurek, Communications Director
April 7, 2022

From tender, tiny microgreens to pillowy ube-filled doughnuts, this April brings a bounty of new farms and food makers to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, with a focus on sustainability-minded local businesses owned by women, immigrants, and people of color. With spring blooming and workers starting to return to offices in San Francisco, we’re excited to welcome these innovative food entrepreneurs on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Starting this week, you’ll find eight new vendors who will make your spring farmers market trips all the more delicious. Our Thursday market alone will have five new vendors, so whether you’re just getting back to the office groove or have been shopping with us all along, get some fresh air, grab some fresh food, and enjoy a generous serving of community at the farmers market this April and beyond.

Everything Green Organics (new on Tuesdays)

On Tuesdays, get your organic microgreen fix from Everything Green Organics, based in Sonoma County. Mother-and-son farming duo Paula and Mitchell Bruning use biodynamic and no-till regenerative farming practices, minimizing their environmental footprint through use of their bare hands, shovels, rakes, and wheelbarrows. Stop by their stand on Tuesdays for carefully grown and harvested  microgreens such as vitamin-packed pea shoots, wheatgrass, and broccoli, red cabbage, arugula, and purple radish sprouts. Visit their Instagram and website.

Rodriguez Brothers Farm (new on Thursdays)

The Rodriguez brothers bring berries and vegetables from Watsonville to the Thursday market. Roberto Rodriguez says, “We’ve been farmers for over 30 years. Our story begins in the late 1980s at our grandfather’s farm in Michoacán, Mexico. There we developed a strong appreciation for farming. When we migrated to the U.S in the 1990s, we worked around the Watsonville, California, area picking strawberries. After many years of hard work and a strong passion for farming, we were able to start our own company in 2001.”  Visit their Instagram and website.

Ventana Organic Farm (new on Thursdays)

Another addition to the Thursday lineup, Ventana Organic Produce is a family-owned and operated farm located in Hollister, California, where they’ve farmed a variety of organic vegetables for more than a decade. Farmer Jesus Chavez says, “We are committed from seed to market to be certified organic. Every process is handled with love by a community with multiple ethnic backgrounds, not just from our borders but beyond. We are also committed to fair wages for every worker no matter their gender, age, race, creed, and physical activity.” Visit their Instagram.

La Vie Wellness in a Bottle (new on Thursdays, plus Saturdays)

A familiar stand at the Saturday Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, La Vie is now bringing their probiotic juices to our Thursday market, too. Founder Yeyen Gunawan left the fast-paced world of Bay Area real estate to focus on her health, which led her to start her own raw food, juicing, and probiotics business. Since 2005, she has been sharing what she discovered through her line of juices, kvasses, kefirs, smoothies, coconut waters, yogurts, and broths at farmers markets and local grocery stores. Visit their Instagram and website.

LoJo’s Tacos (new on Thursdays)

Satisfy your Thursday breakfast taco fix with LoJo’s Tacos. Chef Loren Johnson creates fresh, tasty tacos using sustainable produce from local farms, and meats from Avedano’s Meats. A business born out of the pandemic, LoJo’s first came to the Ferry Plaza through Foodwise’s partnership with Mandela Partners’ Entrepreneur Program, popping up on Saturdays last year. Back by popular demand, LoJo’s is joining us again this April through June. Stop by on Thursdays for her carefully crafted bacon, chorizo, braised beef, steak, mushroom, and vegetarian breakfast tacos. Visit their Instagram.

Pop-Ups from En2action’s Ujamaa Kitchen (rotating vendors on Thursdays)

Foodwise is partnering with En2action’s Ujamaa Kitchen culinary program to highlight a rotating roster of food makers starting this spring, with a focus on Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) chefs and small business owners. Ujamaa Kitchen is a collaborative commercial kitchen space providing entrepreneurship and workforce development opportunities in the Bayview-Hunters Point. Chef Dontaye Ball of Gumbo Social is kicked off the series of pop-ups on Thursday, April 7, with delicious offerings like chicken and sausage gumbo, California greens, and grilled shrimp po’boys. You can look forward to more Ujamaa Kitchen vendors to be announced. Visit En2action’s website.

D.R.E.A.M Doughnuts (new on Saturdays)

Bakers and partners Pamela Augustin and Pauline Pastor launched D.R.E.A.M. Doughnuts in September 2020 in the midst of the pandemic. Describing D.R.E.A.M. as “A proudly immigrant and female-owned and powered business that focuses on making the best small-batch doughnuts using high quality and seasonal ingredients,” they draw inspiration from their childhood and travels, using a recipe they dreamt up at the Culinary Institute of America. Treat yourself to signature doughnuts like The O.G. (Madagascar vanilla bean glaze), Ooh Baby (Ube filled and glazed), Napa Creme (Belgian chocolate with vanilla bean cream). Their savory offerings include Green Garlic Buns and an Adobo Danish, inspired by the national dish of the Philippines. Visit their Instagram and website.

Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas (Saturdays, April 2 through May 7)

Through a longstanding partnership between Foodwise and La Cocina, Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas is popping up on Saturdays this April to sell her take-and-eat tamales and salsas. Born in Mazatlán, Mexico, Alicia Villanueva has been stuffing tamales since she was a kid, with her mami and her abuelita. Be sure to try her 2022 Good Food Awards winning Tomatillo Salsa. Visit Alicia’s Instagram and website. This spring and summer, you can look forward to more La Cocina alumna popping up at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, including The Baking Endeavor (baked goods) and Peaches Patties (Jamaican patties). 

Visit the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market on Tuesdays and Thursdays (10 am to 2 pm) and Saturdays (8 am to 2 pm). Stay tuned for more new vendors and pop-ups in the coming months by signing up for the Foodwise e-letter.

Topics: Farmers, Farmers market, Food makers