A new farmers market association will manage Cupertino’s weekly farmers market at De Anza College, a month after the original operator, West Coast Farmers’ Market Association, was booted out from the space.
The change is an unexpected transition vendors and market regulars hope won’t impact their usual operations.
West Coast Executive director Jerry Lami wanted to relocate his Cupertino market and vendors to another part of the city before August. That’s when the Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association takes over market operations following an agreement with the Foothill-De Anza College District. Since Lami was unable to find a place in time, all of the vendors will be managed by Pacific Coast.
The association and De Anza College will host a grand opening celebration of the Cupertino market on Sunday. Brooke Souza, a regional manager with Pacific Coast, said the association is making “every effort to make sure everyone is welcomed at that market.” In a press release, Pacific Coast stated that all vendors who were part of the market prior to Aug. 4 are welcomed back. The market also will continue to operate at it’s current location and retain its regular hours.
While the average farmer market goer probably won’t notice a change, longtime vendor Jerry Andrade will.
The owner of the produce company Sweet Tree Farms said he has been working with Lami for nine years and is sad to see him leave.
“I feel for him,” Andrade said recently at the market, standing under the fluorescent white tents that cover his fruit stands. “Hopefully it turns out OK.”
West Coast operates 12 markets across the Bay Area and has been a fixture in the city since 2011. Under an agreement with the Foothill-De Anza district, West Coast has hosted the market at De Anza’s parking lot since 2022. The agreement typically gets extended every six months, however this time, the district solicited bids from outside organizations to take over their market operations.
The district’s board of trustees initially considered a bid proposal from Pacific Coast, but had rejected it following objections from West Coast supporters and Lami, who said he was confused by the arrangement and didn’t realize his market was open for bids. The board ended up awarding a contract to Pacific Coast anyways.
“They took my livelihood and my life,” Lami said.
Lami asked the City of Cupertino to help him find a new location, which city staff have done in the past. The city briefly considered allowing West Coast to operate in public parks or in front of City Hall, but determined the locations were “not viable.”
Carlos Nunez, owner of the produce company Mountain Fresh, has been with West Coast for more than a decade. Nunez has worked with Pacific Coast before, and said their rules for vendors are stricter than West Coast’s, especially when it comes to the number of tents each vendor can have. The Gilroy farmer doesn’t know how the transition will go, but is determined to stay at De Anza for as long as he can to continue serving his customers.
The Sweet Tree Farms stand at the Cupertino Farmers’ Market on Sunday, July 28, 2024. (Stephanie Lam/Bay Area News Group)
Like Nunez, Andrade recently submitted an application to Pacific Coast to keep his spot at De Anza and is waiting to hear back. He sells produce in other South Bay cities, like Palo Alto, but likes Cupertino, where he first started selling. Every Friday, the third generation farmer brings trucks filled with fresh produce up from Reedley, a city in Fresno County, to sell on Sunday.
“Cupertino is where my heart’s at,” he said.
For market goers like Crystal, who declined to give her last name, the De Anza market is an ideal place for her to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. The West San Jose resident said she isn’t aware of the change in ownership, but hopes it doesn’t affect the current vendors.
“I hope it stays like that for local residents,” she said recently at the market, hauling a small red cart with fresh produce. “We really like the Sunday Farmer’s Market.”