Meet Our Partners
we partner with the best farmers and food artisans to provide you the tastiest food from the freshest ingredients
drake family farms
We are especially proud of our relationship with Drake Family Farms, which has had its very own namesake salad on our menu ever since our account helped save the farm during a difficult financial patch. Dan Drake is a veterinarian who has been overseeing the health of the Drake Family Farms goat herd for the past 26 years. All the goats have names, are registered with the American Dairy Goat Association, and are loved and treated like pets. Dr. Dan and his team at the farm know that the secret to making the best cheese is to use only the highest quality milk, which comes from happy and healthy goats.
Rockenwagner Bakery
Restaurateur Hans Rockenwagner started Rockenwagner Bakery in 2016, seeking to introduce the strong bread and pastry traditions of Europe to a new audience. Hans’ commitment to quality and integrity have earned him a rightful place among the best bakery brands in the country, and his fresh breads and pastries can be found right here at Mendo as well as at a number of local farmers markets.
sugarbird sweets and teas
Sugarbird Sweets was founded in 2008 by Kei Okumura, who custom blends the Passionfruit Black Iced Tea offered at all Mendocino Farms locations. Kei started her career in pastries by leaving her hometown of Los Angeles and attending École Supérieure de Cuisine Française in Paris, graduating at the top of her class. She subsequently rounded out her culinary education by training at top Michelin starred restaurants in Paris. Her culinary style is influenced by her years of traveling and immersing herself in the culinary cultures of Japan, France, and the United States.
Mendocino Farms has been such a huge help in getting my local dairy goat farm off the ground and running. They’re our single largest customer and even created the ‘Save Drake Farms Salad’ to increase their goat cheese usage to help save our farm. In a food climate where nearly every restaurant and chef wants to claim they are local and sustainably sourced, there are a large number of chefs and restaurants that drop the local to get a better buy. Unfortunately, local is not less expensive, it is more expensive and does impact the bottom line at the restaurant. It is especially difficult as a local farmer to see people drop the local yet continue to say they support local slow food. Mendocino Farms is the real deal, they say they are local and they support the local food system. I love Mendocino Farms and I personally would like to thank them for the huge contribution they have made toward making my dairy goat farm dream a reality.