A new venture by a Colorado-based company aims to become a “go-to source” of regenerative organic ingredients for CPGs and other buyers across the food industry.
The vision of Mad Markets, a for-profit spinout of nonprofit Mad Agriculture, is to build out the “missing middle” of regenerative supply chains by investing in infrastructure to directly connect farmers with buyers at big companies.
Mad Markets is launching with the acquisition of lentil and chickpea processor Timeless Seeds for an undisclosed amount. Timeless, a supplier to restaurant chain Sweet Green among others, contracts and sources organic grains from dozens of organic family farmers in Montana and the surrounding region, according to its site.
“The acquisition of Timeless is a major opportunity for us to strengthen our work connecting farms, brands, processors, distributors, retailers, and institutional sourcing partners,” Mad Markets CEO Alex Heilman said in a statement. “We will support rural farm communities, and address food system related climate change impacts, by assisting a diverse range of buyers in achieving their sustainable sourcing goals.”
Mad Markets purchased Timeless with help from philanthropic investor Builders Vision. Mad Markets has funding from Terra Regenerative Capital, along with 25 other investors, with plans to buy more infrastructure across the country.
“Access to markets and infrastructure are often bottlenecks that limit the growth of regenerative agriculture supply chains,” Kristen Moree, senior investment associate at Builders Vision, said in a statement. “Mad Markets is helping to solve these pain points for both producers and buyers — filling critical gaps on both sides of the supply chain and spurring greater adoption rates of regenerative agricultural production systems as a result.”
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