Star Route Farms

What Star Route Farms does

Star Route Farms is a privately held certified-organic row-crop farm headquartered at 95 Olema Bolinas Road in Bolinas, California. Founded in 1974 by Warren and Marion Weber on five acres using horse-drawn sulky plows, the company operates over 40 acres in Bolinas year-round and adds 80 acres of winter production in the Coachella Valley of southern California, making it the oldest continuously certified organic row-crop farm in California. It holds Marin Organic Certified Agriculture (MOCA) certification and serves local restaurants, area farmers markets, and direct consumers through an online store, with a six-day-a-week delivery cadence.

The company's product portfolio centers on seasonal organic vegetables and fruits sold through three distribution channels: direct wholesale supply to restaurants (six-day-a-week delivery, year-round), stall sales at local farmers markets, and direct-to-consumer farm boxes and crop-list orders via the Barn2Door e-commerce platform. Production technology combines traditional organic row-crop methods with early-adopted precision planters and hydro cooling equipment to preserve post-harvest quality. The farm is owned by the University of San Francisco following an August 2017 acquisition, which positioned it as both an agricultural operation and an educational asset.

Revenue mechanics are split across one-time wholesale transactions (restaurant and farmers-market sales) and recurring subscription revenue (farm-box program). Pricing is not publicly disclosed; the operation is regional, with market reach concentrated in Marin County and seasonally in Riverside County. Customer segments are primarily restaurants seeking reliable local organic supply and local health-conscious consumers seeking certified-organic produce. Headcount falls in the 11-50 range, and no public revenue figures, funding rounds, or active M&A signals are documented in the available data.

Name

Star Route Farms

Legal name

Star Route Farms

Website

https://starroutefarms.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Star Route Farms is the oldest continuously certified organic row-crop farm in California, founded in 1974 and based in Bolinas. It supplies certified-organic produce wholesale to restaurants, at local farmers markets, and via subscription farm boxes through the Barn2Door platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Organic Produce Farming

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100)

akta.pro primary industry

Farm-to-Consumer Produce Boxes / CSA Delivery (AFAIANAC)

Keywords

• Organic row crops
• CSA farm boxes
• Wholesale produce
• Fresh produce delivery
• Organic farming

Headquarters

HQ city

Bolinas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Restaurant Sales: Direct sales of organic produce to restaurants year-round, with six-day-per-week delivery schedule ensuring fresh product availability.
2. Farmers Market Sales: Direct retail sales to consumers at local area farmers markets, providing year-round produce access to individual customers.
3. Online Ordering (Farm Boxes): Direct-to-consumer e-commerce through Barn2Door platform, offering farm boxes and crop list products for online purchase and pickup.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Star Route Farms is a certified organic row-crop farm that grows, harvests, and distributes seasonal produce. Operating 40+ acres in Bolinas, California and 80 seasonal acres in the Coachella Valley, it sells produce through a Farm Box subscription program, direct wholesale to restaurants, and farmers markets.

Product overview

Star Route Farms operates as a single unified organic farming operation offering direct-to-consumer and wholesale produce sales. The core offering consists of Farm Boxes (seasonal subscription boxes) and a Crop List (product catalog), supplemented by restaurant supply and farmers market sales. All products derive from the farm's own production across 40 acres in Bolinas and 80 acres in Coachella Valley.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Farm Box Subscription

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• University of San FranciscocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2017Star Route Farms was purchased by the University of San Francisco in August 2017. The university acquired the farm, maintaining its operations as an educational and agricultural asset. This represents a strategic partnership between academia and sustainable agriculture.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Spade & Plow: Small organic farm in San Mateo County, CA supplying Bay Area restaurants and running a CSA — closely comparable scale, geography, and restaurant+CSA GTM motion.
• Capay Organic: Certified organic row-crop farm in California's Capay Valley selling direct to consumers via CSA/farm boxes, farmers markets, and restaurants — virtually the same GTM model as Star Route Farms in Northern California.
• Suzie's Farm: Certified organic farm in San Diego County selling via CSA, farmers markets, and restaurants — directly comparable organic row-crop, multi-channel DTC model, though operating in Southern California.
• Mariquita Farm: Organic farm based in Watsonville, CA focused on restaurant and farmers-market wholesale with a CSA program — comparable size, channel mix, and Bay Area/Agricultural Institute of Marin customer overlap with Star Route.
• Full Belly Farm: Multi-generation certified organic farm in Capay Valley, CA running a CSA box program plus restaurant and farmers-market wholesale — directly comparable in crop mix, certification status, and Bay Area/Northern California distribution.

Broad incumbents

• Earthbound Farm: Largest U.S. organic produce brand (now part of Taylor Farms) selling organic salads, vegetables, and fruit nationally at retail — same organic certification space but at vastly greater scale and broader distribution.
• Cascadian Farm: Pioneer organic produce and frozen vegetable brand owned by General Mills — same certified-organic heritage and consumer positioning as Star Route but operating as a national packaged-goods brand.

Emerging players

• Imperfect Foods: National DTC subscription box for produce (including organic) — competes for the same CSA/farm-box customer wallet and could erode Star Route's DTC subscription growth if it expands deeper into Northern California.
• Misfits Market: DTC subscription produce box operator — overlapping customer segment and subscription economics with Star Route's Barn2Door farm-box offering.

Others

• Barn2Door: Software platform purpose-built for farms to sell direct via subscriptions and online ordering — Star Route Farms runs its entire DTC channel through Barn2Door, making it the key enabling infrastructure peer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/star-route-farms

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Star Route Farms