Today we’d like to introduce you to David, Kevin & Matthew.
Hi David, Kevin & Matthew, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
The three of us have been friends and worked together for years. David is an MBA and adjunct professor at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School so he is the “business mind”. Kevin and Matthew have years of horticulture experience so they are the “plant minds”. Together we have complementary skills and a deep respect for each other’s expertise.
We had been dreaming of starting our own business and spent many months brainstorming and discussing how we would design our company. We really wanted to create a company that we would love to work for, and that would combine our passion for growing food and doing good.
In 2021, we launched our company Cerca Cultivation, with a mission to sustainably, responsibly, and ethically grow food where it is eaten.
“Cerca” is a Spanish adjective for close or near. Our philosophy is to bring farms and other places where food is grown closer to where people live, learn, work, and eat. We believe that the healthiest path forward for people and our planet is local, sustainable, and ethical farming.
We aim to minimize the distance between where food is grown and where it is eaten. Food travels on average about 1,500 miles to get from the farm to your plate. This results in large quantities of fossil fuel usage, CO2 and waterway pollution, and produce being picked unripe weeks before it is sold and eaten. When you grow your own food at home, at work, at school, or in your community, you are reducing the food miles that your food travels to get to your plate.
We care deeply about how we grow our food, how our farmers are treated, how food is consumed, and how it’s discarded. And we have an immense desire to fairly treat all our stakeholders – our employees, clients, suppliers, partners, investors, community, environment, and seedlings.
Our current system is linear: farmers produce food, consumers use some of that food, and the rest gets thrown out. We believe there’s a better way to do it. We are helping create a circular food economy. We compost our food and garden waste, keeping it out of landfills and creating healthy, nutrient-rich soil to be used for growing more food.
And we donate any extra seedlings from our operations to local charities, nonprofits, and underserved communities.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s been an exciting journey since we launched our company. Our background is in horticulture and when we started Cerca Cultivation we were very familiar with the hydroponic and soil-based gardening industry. So in some sense we knew what we were getting into.
But consumer trends and interests change, so we purposely designed our organization to be adaptable and flexible. This allows us to listen to our customers and understand what their needs are and how to best serve them.
One of our mottos is “we meet urban farmers where they are”. That is really important to us. We are able to provide various levels of gardening support; from weekly or monthly or seasonal service, or design and consultation, or shipping seedlings directly to customers.
We can support whatever our customers’ level of gardening experience and needs are. And we can grow a garden no matter what type of space someone has, whether it’s a backyard, patio or balcony, rooftop, office, restaurant or school.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Cerca Cultivation Corporation?
Our passion is rooted in wanting to do good. That’s why we incorporated as a California Benefit Corporation, with the purpose to create a positive impact on society and the environment. As a social enterprise, we pursue both for-profit and “for-good” objectives. And being a Benefit Corporation allows us to take into account the triple bottom line of profit, people, and planet when making business decisions.
We make conscious decisions to work with companies, vendors, and suppliers who share the same values. We take this to heart as a company – we always try to support and reward other like-minded people and companies. All of our business operations support minority and women-owned businesses and certified B Corporations.
At Cerca, we build and maintain on-site, living food systems that provide individuals and businesses (schools, restaurants, office spaces) a chance to connect with the food cycle while making use of urban spaces that would normally be unable to produce food. We do this through hydroponic and raised bed systems that provide year-round access to herbs, vegetables, and leafy greens that can be picked at the peak of ripeness and just before use, which eliminates waste and boosts nutrition. These systems are resource-efficient and durable, so they will continue to save space, water, electricity and lessen contributions to the waste stream for years to come. We also train those interested at any of our sites in best practices in urban agriculture and to imagine new ways to grow and hopefully to go forward with the confidence to take agency over their own plate.
Additionally, we grow a variety of seedlings that will flourish in soil or hydroponic gardens which customers can order on our website. We ship seedlings around the country directly to a customer’s door.
Pricing:
- Seedlings – $2.50 each
- Commercial / Residential Service – contact us for a free consultation and quote
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cercacultivation.com
- Instagram: cerca_cultivation
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cerca-Cultivation-105855245292778
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cercacultivation
