Local Loan Recipients: Northern California

Whole Foods Market's Northern California Region includes the northern parts of both California and Nevada.

Three Twins Ice Cream

Petaluma, California

Three Twins Organic Ice Cream in 2005 started as an organic ice cream shop in San Rafael. In the following years owner Neal Gottlieb they 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 will help 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.

Dr. Melina

San Francisco, California

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.

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 will be using the loan funds to purchase ingredients and chocolate-making equipment, including a mixer, a heat sealer, and chocolate cases for use in our stores.

Kombucha Botanica

Santa Cruz, California

Adam Goodman produces raw, organic kombucha, a fermented tea drink. His products are both kosher and Fair Trade certified, and Kombucha Botanica is a member of 1% for the Planet. He currently crafts his kombucha in three flavors — elderflower, ginger tulsi, and pomegranate.

Kombucha Botanica has been selling products to Whole Foods Market for a little over a year, and has received two loans through the Local Producer Loan Program. Adam will be using his first loan to expand his business by constructing and equipping three new fermentation rooms. This loan helped him to more than double his sales! Due to the popularity of his product, he estimates that his sales will quadruple after this expansion. His second loan will be used to build a walk-in refrigerator, which will allow him to increase production.

Mudslinger's Freestyle

San Francisco, California

MaggieMudd is an independent ice cream shop that was started four years ago 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.

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 will feature 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!

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 is using the loan to build a new production room, which will allow them to increase their distribution.

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