Green Garden Bakery
Green Garden Bakery is a youth-led Minneapolis social enterprise producing vegetable-based vegan and gluten-free desserts from community garden ingredients, selling via farmers markets, e-commerce, and catering to Twin Cities consumers while reinvesting one-third of revenue into the Heritage Park community.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersMinneapolis, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Green Garden Bakery does
Green Garden Bakery (GGB) is a youth-led social enterprise founded in 2014 and headquartered in the Heritage Park neighborhood of North Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company produces and sells vegetable-based desserts — including beet brownies, lemon zucchini muffins, East African spiced sweet potato donut holes, and jalapeño chocolate chip cookies — using ingredients grown in community gardens and, as of 2022, an in-house commercial kitchen with indoor planters for year-round cultivation. Its product line has expanded to include Garden Spa body care products (body butter and scrubs), branded apparel (t-shirts, hoodies, hats, totes), garden earrings, East African tea spice mix, and gift cards. The business is supported by the nonprofit Urban Strategies Inc and operates with a one-third revenue reinvestment model that funds community needs such as security systems, exercise classes, food assistance, and youth scholarships.
GGB sells through multiple channels: farmers markets, festivals, co-ops, and pop-ups at local shops and cafés; an e-commerce storefront with pickup and Minneapolis/St. Paul delivery; and catering services priced at $15/hour plus travel. The Youth Entrepreneurship Club develops non-perishable products (e.g., garden earrings, body care) as part of a youth leadership pipeline engaging 100+ K-12 participants from the neighborhood of 700 youth. Operations are nearly 100% paperless with compostable packaging and plant-based inks, reinforcing the eco-conscious brand identity. Pricing ranges from $1 per individual mini dessert to $240 for bulk muffin orders, with a pay-what-you-can option supporting accessibility in the USDA-designated food desert area. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed; in 2017 the business reinvested approximately $9,000 into the community, implying gross revenue of roughly $27,000 at that time, with subsequent expansion in product breadth, kitchen capacity, and distribution channels.
Green Garden Bakery firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Green Garden Bakery
- Legal name
- Green Garden Bakery
- Website
- https://greengardenbakery.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Green Garden Bakery is a youth-led Minneapolis social enterprise producing vegetable-based vegan and gluten-free desserts from community garden ingredients, selling via farmers markets, e-commerce, and catering to Twin Cities consumers while reinvesting one-third of revenue into the Heritage Park community.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Green Garden Bakery industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Artisanal Bakery
- NAICS
- Retail Bakeries (311811), Baked Goods Retailers (445291), Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing (3118)
- SIC
- Bakery Products (2050), Retail-Eating Places (5812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Retail Bakeries (Bread & Daily Bakery) (THAFAFAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Cookie & Brownie Shops (THAFAGAF), Dessert Cafes (Coffee + Desserts) (THAFADAH)
Keywords
Where Green Garden Bakery is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Minneapolis
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Green Garden Bakery business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Vegetable-Based Dessert Sales: Direct sales of vegetable-based desserts (beet brownies, zucchini muffins, sweet potato donuts, jalapeno cookies) at farmers markets, events, and through online ordering. Pay-what-you-want pricing model.
- Catering Services: Catering services for events including youth leaders for hosting, serving, cleaning, and presentations. Billed at $15/hour plus travel expenses.
- Merchandise: Sale of branded merchandise including T-shirts, sweatshirts, tote bags, hats, garden earrings, and gift cards.
- Garden Spa Products: Body care products including moisturizing body butter and exfoliating body scrubs made from garden herbs, oils, and flowers.
- Community Reinvestment Model: One third of revenue reinvested into the community supporting families, youth programs, and neighborhood needs.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Individual and mini desserts from $1-$2.50 per item |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Bulk dessert orders ranging from $24-$240 |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Catering services at $15/hour plus travel |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Apparel and merchandise items from $8-$50 |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Gift cards available in $20-$50 denominations |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Green Garden Bakery product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Green Garden Bakery produces and sells vegetable-based desserts — including beet brownies, lemon zucchini muffins, sweet potato donut holes, and jalapeño chocolate chip cookies — made from produce grown in community gardens. The bakery operates in Minneapolis, distributing through farmers markets, festivals, online ordering with local delivery, pop-up sales, and catering services staffed by youth participants, with one-third of revenue reinvested into the Heritage Park community.
Product overview
Green Garden Bakery is a youth-led business offering vegetable-based desserts and related products. The core product line includes vegan and gluten-free baked goods made from produce grown in community gardens—primarily beet brownies, lemon zucchini muffins, sweet potato donut holes, and seasonal mystery desserts. These are sold as individual items, party boxes, and through catering services. Supporting product lines include Garden Spa body care products utilizing garden herbs and flowers, apparel (t-shirts, sweaters, tote bags, hats), East African Tea Spice Mix, and gift cards. The company also runs a Youth Entrepreneurship Club that develops new non-perishable products. All products emphasize eco-friendly practices with compostable packaging and plant-based inks.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Vegetable-Based Desserts A core line of vegan and gluten-free vegetable-based baked goods made from produce grown in community gardens, offered as individual items, bulk orders, and party boxes for Twin Cities consumers.
- Lemon Zucchini Muffin (Gluten Free) A top-selling gluten-free muffin combining lemon and zucchini, available individually or in bulk with a 35-piece minimum for mini sizes. Priced from $30 to $240.
- East African Spiced Sweet Potato Donut Holes (Vegan) Vegan cardamom sugar donut holes made with sweet potato, sold in quantities from $36 to $144.
- Jalapeño Chocolate Chip Cookie (Vegan) Vegan chocolate chip cookie with caramelized jalapeños providing pepper flavor without heat, sold in 36- to 144-count orders priced $54 to $144.
- Mystery Seasonal Dessert (Vegan or Gluten Free) Seasonal surprise dessert selected by GGB based on the customer's vegan, gluten-free, or no-preference selection.
- Party Box of Baked Goods Ready-to-serve dessert assortment of 12 regular or 24 mini vegetable-based desserts, available in Baker's Choice or vegan-only, priced at $30.
- Lemon Zucchini Cake or Cupcake Gluten-free lemon cake or cupcake with lemon glaze, with optional add-ons of edible flowers, frosting, or candied lemon at $0.50 each. Priced at $2.50 each.
- Chocolate Beet Cake or Cupcake Vegan chocolate cake or cupcake with a chocolate chunk topper and optional add-ons of edible flowers or frosting for $0.50 each. Priced at $2.00 each.
- Mini Desserts An assortment of mini vegetable-based desserts including Jalapeño Chocolate Chip Cookies, East African Spiced Sweet Potato Donuts, Beet Brownie Bites, and Lemon Zucchini Muffins. Priced at $1.00 each with a 35-piece minimum order.
- Garden Spa Body Care Body butter and body scrub products infused with garden herbs, oils, and flowers, including Winter Glow Moisturizing Body Butter and exfoliating scrubs such as Crystal Clear, Citrus Rose, Raspberry Bliss, and House Mix. Priced at $8.00 with a refill-at-half-price program for returned jars.
- East African Tea Spice Mix Aromatic cardamom spice mixture and sugar blend packaged in a 12oz Mason jar, suitable for tea or dessert toppings, sold through GGB's entrepreneurship product line.
- Garden Earrings Handcrafted earrings infused with garden elements, each pair unique, priced at $15.00.
- GGB Social Change Clothing Line Apparel line celebrating social change, including hats, long sleeves, hoodies, and combination packages priced $25-$100 with bundle savings of $10-$15.
- T-Shirts GGB-branded T-shirts in designs including Beets, Carrots, Lemons, Tomatoes, Jalapeños, Lavender, Donut, Gray, and Pride, priced $25-$30 and available in sizes S-2XL.
Quantifiable outcome
- $9,000 invested back into Heritage Park community in 2017
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Green Garden Bakery
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Green Garden Bakery technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Green Garden Bakery partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Urban Strategies InccoreUrban Strategies Inc is a not-for-profit organization that supports the Green Garden Bakery business and youth leadership program. Their mission is that all families will be stable and thriving. They work locally to advance more equitable results for children and families of the Heritage Park community.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Green Garden Bakery competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Magnolia Bakery: Iconic NYC-based bakery famous for cupcakes and desserts with multiple retail locations. Comparable retail-bakery format and dessert focus, though at a much larger brand scale than GGB.
- Sprinkles Cupcakes: National cupcake and dessert chain with retail bakeries and ATM dispensaries. Comparable single-category dessert retail bakery model at established chain scale.
- Tartine Bakery: Artisan bakery and confectionery with multiple locations on the West Coast. Comparable as a craft retail bakery with strong brand and made-from-scratch production ethos.
- Levain Bakery: NYC-based artisan cookie and bakery brand with nationwide locations. Comparable as a specialty baked-goods retail brand with strong consumer recognition and e-commerce operations.
- Nothing Bundt Cakes: Large specialty dessert bakery chain focused on bundt cakes with nationwide franchise model. Comparable as a specialty dessert retail bakery with catering offerings, but operates at vastly greater scale than GGB.
Regional players
- Bakery Nouveau: West Seattle-based artisan bakery and pastry shop with strong pastry and dessert focus. Comparable artisan dessert-bakery retail operation, but serves the Seattle market rather than Minneapolis.
- Flour Bakery + Café: Boston-based artisan bakery and café founded by James Beard Award-winning chef Joanne Chang. Comparable artisan retail-bakery format, but serves the Boston metro rather than Minneapolis.
Direct peers
- Greyston Bakery: Social enterprise bakery in Yonkers, NY known for its "open hiring" model and workforce development mission — directly comparable to Green Garden Bakery's youth-led, community-reinvestment model. Both sell baked goods while reinvesting in underserved communities.
- Hot Bread Kitchen: NYC-based nonprofit bakery that trains women and immigrants in culinary workforce skills while selling artisan breads and baked goods — mirrors GGB's youth-development-as-business model with similar mission-driven commercial operations.
- Sweet Ritual: Veteran- and community-focused vegan dessert shop in Austin, TX. Comparable as a small-batch vegan/plant-based bakery with a social mission and direct retail sales model.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Green Garden Bakery social profiles
Digital presenceGreen Garden Bakery financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Green Garden Bakery leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles16 records
Green Garden Bakery funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Green Garden Bakery 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 Green Garden Bakery
What does Green Garden Bakery do?
Green Garden Bakery produces and sells vegetable-based desserts — including beet brownies, lemon zucchini muffins, sweet potato donut holes, and jalapeño chocolate chip cookies — made from produce grown in community gardens. The bakery operates in Minneapolis, distributing through farmers markets, festivals, online ordering with local delivery, pop-up sales, and catering services staffed by youth participants, with one-third of revenue reinvested into the Heritage Park community.
Is Green Garden Bakery a public or private company?
Green Garden Bakery is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Green Garden Bakery founded?
Green Garden Bakery was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Green Garden Bakery based?
Green Garden Bakery is headquartered in Minneapolis, United States, in the North America region.
How does Green Garden Bakery make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Vegetable-Based Dessert Sales are the primary driver. The others are catering Services, merchandise, garden Spa Products and community Reinvestment Model.
Who are Green Garden Bakery's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Magnolia Bakery, Sprinkles Cupcakes, Tartine Bakery, Levain Bakery and Nothing Bundt Cakes. Regional players are Bakery Nouveau and Flour Bakery + Café. Direct peers are Greyston Bakery, Hot Bread Kitchen and Sweet Ritual.
Does Green Garden Bakery have an API?
No public API is recorded for Green Garden Bakery.
What industry is Green Garden Bakery in?
Green Garden Bakery's product category is Artisanal Bakery. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAFAFAA, Retail Bakeries (Bread & Daily Bakery), with a secondary code of THAFAGAF, Cookie & Brownie Shops. Its NAICS code is 311811 and its SIC code is 2050.