Berkeley Food Network
Berkeley Food Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2016 in Berkeley, California, that distributes 2.4 million pounds of food annually through member-choice pantries, home delivery, food recovery, and a redistribution hub serving 30+ partner organizations across Northern Alameda County.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersBerkeley, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Berkeley Food Network does
Berkeley Food Network (BFN) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2016 in Berkeley, California, that provides community-centered food assistance across Northern Alameda County. The organization operates five core programs: Member-Choice Pantries (grocery store-style food selection at the 9th Street facility and neighborhood pop-ups), Home Delivery (twice-monthly grocery box delivery for homebound residents), Food Recovery (rescuing edible surplus from local grocery stores and restaurants), Redistribution (acting as a wholesale food hub for 30+ partner organizations), and Connecting Our Community (resource navigation including CalFresh enrollment). In FY2025, BFN distributed 2,422,901 lbs of food and served 6,500-8,600 community members weekly.
BFN's business model is donation-funded rather than revenue-generating. All services are provided free of charge. Funding comes from four streams: individual donations (one-time, monthly recurring, employer-matched, and Donor Advised Funds), foundation grants (Clif Bar Family Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, Crescent Porter Hale, Sunlight Giving, Witkin Foundation, Sprouts Foundation, StopWaste), government support (City of Berkeley, Alameda County, USDA Emergency Food Assistance Program), and in-kind food donations from grocery partners including Berkeley Bowl, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Safeway. The organization is led by Executive Director Andrew Crispin with a 14-person staff supported by 516 volunteers (equivalent to 6.4 FTEs in 2024).
BFN's technology stack is standard for the nonprofit sector, relying on email systems, donor management platforms, and Airtable for volunteer coordination. The organization has built distinctive operational capabilities through its 10,000-square-foot West Berkeley warehouse, food recovery supply chain, and research partnership with the UC Berkeley Nutrition Policy Institute.
Berkeley Food Network firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Berkeley Food Network
- Legal name
- Berkeley Food Network
- Website
- https://berkeleyfoodnetwork.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Berkeley Food Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2016 in Berkeley, California, that distributes 2.4 million pounds of food annually through member-choice pantries, home delivery, food recovery, and a redistribution hub serving 30+ partner organizations across Northern Alameda County.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Berkeley Food Network industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Food Assistance Services
- NAICS
- Community Food Services (62421), Community Food Services (624210)
- SIC
- Services-Social Services (8300), Wholesale-Groceries, General Line (5141)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (Fair Trade, Food Access, Regenerative) (BPAGALAD)
Keywords
Where Berkeley Food Network is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Berkeley
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Berkeley Food Network business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Individual Donations: BFN accepts one-time donations, monthly recurring gifts, and employer-matched contributions. Donors can give via check, online portal, or Donor Advised Funds. Monthly donors receive matching incentives (up to $25,000 match campaign).
- Foundation and Grant Funding: BFN receives grants from foundations including Clif Bar Family Foundation, Crescent Porter Hale, Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Grants, Sprouts Foundation, StopWaste, Sunlight Giving, and Witkin Foundation.
- Government Funding: BFN receives government support from the City of Berkeley and operates as an authorized distributor for Alameda County Community Food Bank and USDA Emergency Food Assistance Program.
- Food Donations (In-Kind): BFN receives donated food from local grocery stores, restaurants, farms, and food producers through food recovery partnerships, which constitutes the primary supply for their distribution programs.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Berkeley Food Network product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Berkeley Food Network provides free, dignified access to healthy food through member-choice pantries, home delivery for homebound residents, and a 10,000-square-foot redistribution warehouse hub that supplies 30+ partner organizations. The organization also operates a food recovery program that intercepts edible surplus from local grocers, farms, and restaurants and channels it into community distribution.
Product overview
Berkeley Food Network operates as a food assistance organization offering a coordinated portfolio of five direct service programs. The core offerings include Member-Choice Pantries (grocery store-style food pantries with individual choice), Home Delivery (twice-monthly grocery delivery for mobility-challenged residents), Food Recovery (rescuing surplus food from retailers), Redistribution (wholesale food hub for partner organizations), and Connecting Our Community (resource referrals). These programs work together to serve 6,500+ community members weekly across Northern Alameda County, combining direct service delivery with partner network strengthening.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Member-Choice Pantries Grocery-store style food pantry emulating farmers' markets where community members select their own items, promoting dignity and reducing waste. Includes the 9th Street Pantry serving over 1,200 households weekly and neighborhood pantries at schools, senior housing, and community centers; for food-insecure residents of Berkeley and Albany.
- Home Delivery Twice-monthly grocery box delivery to Berkeley and Albany residents with health, mobility, or transportation challenges. Boxes contain seasonal produce, shelf-stable items, bread, milk, eggs, and protein when available, with accommodations for dietary restrictions.
- Redistribution Warehouse hub program where 30+ partner nonprofits, schools, and faith-based organizations shop for bulk food and produce from BFN's 10,000-square-foot West Berkeley warehouse to operate their own pantry and meal programs.
- Food Recovery Program that intercepts edible surplus food from local grocery stores, restaurants, farms, and food producers, diverting hundreds of thousands of pounds annually from landfills to redistribute to community members and partner organizations.
- Connecting Our Community Resource coordination service connecting community members to additional services beyond food assistance, including CalFresh enrollment, housing, healthcare, senior services, adult education, and childcare resources through partnerships with local organizations.
Quantifiable outcome
- 2,422,901 lbs of food distributed in FY2025
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Berkeley Food Network
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Berkeley Food Network technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Berkeley Food Network partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Rancho Siempre Verde (Phoenix Food Project)coreRSV's Phoenix Food Project donates over 10,000 lbs of organic produce annually to BFN. RSV farm in Pescadero grows vegetables specifically for BFN distribution, with proceeds from Fall Farm Fest ticket sales supporting seed purchases.
- Alameda County Community Food Bank (ACCFB)coreACCFB is BFN's primary food supply partner. BFN serves as ACCFB's first Redistribution Organization (RDO), enabling bulk food redistribution to network of partners throughout Northern Alameda County. ACCFB provides food supplies including produce, pantry items, and USDA Emergency Food Assistance Program commodities.
- UC Berkeley Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI)corePartnership with NPI researchers to develop and evaluate food recovery produce sorting standards. NPI staff volunteer at BFN warehouse and provide expertise in nutrition policy and food access to improve BFN's quality standards and training processes.
- StopWastecoreBFN partnered with StopWaste to develop food recovery produce sorting standards to share with partner organizations. StopWaste supports BFN's food waste reduction initiatives and provides expertise in sustainable food systems.
- Dandelion KitchenminorWeekly partnership where Dandelion Kitchen takes hundreds of pounds of recovered food to Urban Adamah kitchen, prepares vegetarian meals, and returns them to BFN for distribution through pantry and Home Delivery programs.
- Berkeley BowlcoreBerkeley Bowl is BFN's biggest food recovery partner, picking up thousands of pounds of produce weekly that cannot be sold due to cosmetic damages or overpurchasing.
- Trader Joe'scoreTrader Joe's donates surplus food to BFN through food recovery partnership, providing regular supply of groceries for distribution.
- Whole Foods MarketcoreWhole Foods Market donates surplus food to BFN through food recovery partnership, providing regular supply of natural and organic products.
- SafewaycoreSafeway donates surplus food to BFN through food recovery partnership, providing regular supply of groceries for distribution.
- Berkeley Youth AlternativesminorNonprofit partner that receives food redistribution from BFN warehouse to operate youth-focused food assistance programs.
- Dorothy Day HousecoreCommunity meal program that shops BFN warehouse for bulk food to serve homeless and housing-insecure adults. Quote from program manager: 'Instead of sitting behind a computer to order, I get to hand select what I want to feed our community.'
- Berkeley City CollegeminorEducational institution that receives food redistribution for campus food pantry serving students.
- UC Berkeley Basic Needs Center Food PantryminorUC Berkeley campus food pantry (The Bear Pantry) receives food redistribution from BFN for student food assistance.
- The Bread ProjectminorFree culinary training organization receives food redistribution from BFN for food service job placement programs.
- Ecology CenterminorPartner with Ecology Center on Market Match program research, identifying local markets with low participation for study purposes.
- Berkeley BowlcoreLocal independent grocery store, BFN's biggest food recovery partner providing hundreds of pounds of produce weekly through food rescue.
- Cheese Board CollectiveminorBerkeley-based worker cooperative donates surplus bread and baked goods to BFN through food recovery partnership.
Scale indicators18 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Berkeley Food Network competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- St. Anthony Foundation: San Francisco nonprofit combining free meal programs, food pantries, and social services for low-income and homeless populations. Comparable in combining food distribution with wraparound social service referrals (similar to BFN's "Connecting Our Community" program).
- Glide Foundation: San Francisco-based nonprofit providing meals, groceries, and social services to food-insecure and housing-insecure populations. Comparable mission and direct-service food distribution model, though with a stronger emphasis on sit-down meal programs in addition to pantry services.
- Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano: Regional food bank operating direct distribution pantries, mobile pantries, and food rescue across the East Bay and North Bay. Directly comparable as a mid-size food assistance organization combining direct service with partner network distribution in nearby Bay Area counties.
- SF-Marin Food Bank: Major Bay Area food bank operating pantries, home delivery, and food recovery across San Francisco and Marin. Highly comparable in service mix (pantries, home delivery, food recovery, partner redistribution) and operates in an adjacent, similarly food-insecure urban geography.
Broad incumbents
- Feeding America: National umbrella organization for the U.S. food bank network. BFN indirectly participates through the Feeding America/ACCFB supply chain and shares the food recovery, pantry, and redistribution model at a national-system level.
- Second Harvest of Silicon Valley: One of the largest food banks in the U.S., serving Santa Clara and San Mateo counties with pantries, home delivery, food recovery, and a wide partner network. Comparable business model and program structure, though operating at much larger scale in a different but adjacent Bay Area region.
- Alameda County Community Food Bank: Regional food bank serving Alameda County; BFN's primary food supply partner and the largest comparable food bank in the same geography. Both operate member-choice pantries and food distribution, though ACCFB operates at significantly larger scale and serves as the upstream supplier to BFN's redistribution model.
Emerging players
- FoodCloud: International nonprofit specializing in food surplus redistribution technology connecting retailers to charities. Comparable food recovery mission and donor-retailer partnership model, though operating primarily in Ireland/UK with a tech-enabled marketplace approach.
- Food Shift: Bay Area nonprofit focused specifically on food recovery and edible surplus redistribution. Strong overlap with BFN's Food Recovery program, though Food Shift is a smaller, more specialized organization emphasizing recovery operations and culinary job training.
Regional players
- Berkeley Food Pantry (at Berkeley Food Network, formerly BFPC): Predecessor/adjacent Berkeley food assistance nonprofit that was effectively absorbed into the broader BFN ecosystem. Direct operational and geographic overlap in Berkeley, with comparable member-choice pantry and food distribution services.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Berkeley Food Network social profiles
Digital presenceBerkeley Food Network financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Berkeley Food Network leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles14 records
Berkeley Food Network funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Berkeley Food Network M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Berkeley Food Network
What does Berkeley Food Network do?
Berkeley Food Network provides free, dignified access to healthy food through member-choice pantries, home delivery for homebound residents, and a 10,000-square-foot redistribution warehouse hub that supplies 30+ partner organizations. The organization also operates a food recovery program that intercepts edible surplus from local grocers, farms, and restaurants and channels it into community distribution.
Is Berkeley Food Network a public or private company?
Berkeley Food Network is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Berkeley Food Network founded?
Berkeley Food Network was founded in 2016. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Berkeley Food Network based?
Berkeley Food Network is headquartered in Berkeley, United States, in the North America region.
How does Berkeley Food Network make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Individual Donations are the primary driver. The others are foundation and Grant Funding, government Funding and food Donations (In-Kind).
Who are Berkeley Food Network's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are St. Anthony Foundation, Glide Foundation, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano and SF-Marin Food Bank. Broad incumbents are Feeding America, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley and Alameda County Community Food Bank. Emerging players are FoodCloud and Food Shift. Berkeley Food Pantry (at Berkeley Food Network, formerly BFPC) is listed as a regional player.
Does Berkeley Food Network have an API?
No public API is recorded for Berkeley Food Network.
What industry is Berkeley Food Network in?
Berkeley Food Network's product category is Food Assistance Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAEAA, Food Assistance & Food Banks, with a secondary code of BPAGALAD, Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (Fair Trade, Food Access, Regenerative). Its NAICS code is 62421 and its SIC code is 8300.