Discover Oxy's Suppliers and Distributers

Overview Supplier Highlight

Occidental has an established network of producers and suppliers who are committed to sustainability and economic and social responsibility. Campus Dining is always working to create meals that are sustainable, locally grown and delicious. Occidental supports many producers and suppliers that are local and community based, ecologically sound, humane, and fair trade—all of these factors are in compliance with the Real Food Challenge. If you have any questions about sources or ingredients, please contact Associate Director Judy Runyon at jrun@oxy.edu

Supplier Highlight

Goat Coffee

Goat Coffee is a technology driven specialty coffee company. They utilize their background in metrology to help improve the quality of current coffee industry practices. One of their primary goals is to select the world’s best coffees and bring them to their customers, while providing the necessary tools to take the coffee tasting experience to new levels. Goat Coffee is a veteran owned company founded by two friends, banded by brotherhood in the United States Marine Corps, Guillermo Treto and Michael Montes. After years of traveling the country tasting and testing coffees, Treto and Montes' passion for coffee and technology compelled them to create a company that could one day revolutionize the specialty coffee industry. Goat Coffee was officially founded in 2017. They offer organic roasts, including those served in the Marketplace. Visit the Goat website, here.

You're probably familiar with the delicious frozen meals available in the Marketplace. Amy's Kitchen is a family-owned company that's been making homestyle meals since 1987. They're perfect for when you want a warm meal, not unlike the Marketplace's own Homestyle options, but need to eat outside of our dining facilities' hours. Try their lasagna, their Indian meals, and their vegan and gluten-free options! Visit Amy's website here to learn more about their origins and options.

BioBag’s mission is to keep organic waste from ever entering a landfill. Unlike regular plastic bags, BioBags are made from a resin derived from plants, vegetable oils and compostable polymers and can be consumed by micro-organisms that live in our soils. Because of this, our BioBags can be readily composted along with organic waste at municipal composting facilities. BioBag is a small company of dedicated employees, who are fully committed to only producing certified compostable bags and films. Environmental issues form a fundamental part of BioBag’s activities. BioBag is committed to sustainability. They have taken many steps towards protecting the environment while maintaining a high quality and reliable product. BioBag persistently searches for the best raw materials and production methods that limit any negative effects on the environment. The Tiger Cooler and Marketplace provide BioBags upon request for taking food to go for $0.25.

Each year the U.S. continues to generate more trash while limited landfill space continues to decline. This problem could be easily addressed through composting. Nearly two thirds of U.S municipal solid waste (MSW) is organic and could be composted while approximately 70% of U.S. MSW is sent to landfills or incinerated. BioTuf produces and sells compostable products that helps to address this problem. The Tiger Cooler and Marketplace carry BioTuf’s plastic flatware. Visit the BioTuf website.

Bread Los Angeles: 10 mi from Oxy in Montebello, CA Established in 1991, Bread Los Angeles specializes in European artisan breads and rolls. The bakery values natural, fresh-baked gourmet breads, and makes a variety of dinner rolls, sandwich rolls, hamburger buns, hot dog buns and pretzels. Family owned and operated, Bread Los Angeles focuses on making bread the old fashioned way, using all natural ingredients, traditional leavening techniques, and no preservatives. Breads, buns, rolls - many specialty breads for Organic Bar and theme meals are sourced from Bread Los Angeles. Visit the Bread Los Angeles website.

Bread Lounge is a local Los Angeles bakery that supplies the Marketplace with select baked goods. Based in the Arts District and founded in 2010, Bread Lounge has established itself as a natural baker using only the purest ingredients. Their brick and mortar storefront features a full wall of windows inviting customers to watch their baking process! Check out their website here for more information about their philosophy, menu items, and location!

Caffe Vita provides the Green Bean with a variety of coffee blends, some of which are organic. As a company, Caffe Vita emphasizes the importance of transparency and justice throughout the supply chain. Caffe Vita employees personally visit the coffee farms that they source from, and establish relationships with the farmers and their communities. When drinking a Green Bean beverage, the customer can enjoy the delicious flavor with the knowledge that the coffee beans were sourced responsibly and thoughtfully. Visit the Cafe Vitta website.

Chameleon Beverage Company supplies our dining facilities with bottled water. They offer customizable bottles and recently developed a bottle that is made of 100% recycled plastic, and have a significantly smaller carbon footprint than their other bottles. Visit the Chameleon Beverage Company website.

Delivering some of Oxy's most popular beverages. Classic Beverage Co. supplies the Marketplace and Tiger Cooler with many beverages popular with Oxy students, including Snapple Tea, Guayaki Yerba Mate drinks, Purity Organic juices and more.

Craig's Vegan is a vegan ice cream company based in L.A. They make vegan treats from cashew milk that are just as creamy and delicious as dairy-based products. They thoughtfully source their products from fair and organic sources, meaning all of their products count towards the Real Food Challenge. Try any of their four flavors in the Cooler. Visit the Craig's Vegan website and learn more about their story.

Located 15 miles from Oxy, Debbie's Dinners is a local catering business that was established in 1992. Debbie's Dinner's takes pride in their event planning and catering business, and are a great choice for locally produced, high quality catered food and desserts. If you need proof, they're the ones who supply the Tiger Cooler's delicious cupcakes!

Driftwood Dairy: 10 mi from Oxy in El Monte, CA. Driftwood Dairy is based barely 10 miles from Occidental. Started in El Monte by Mike Dolan in 1946, the business was built on their family dairy legacy going back to their dairy farm in Ireland. The business started as a single cash and carry store in El Monte, and has since greatly expanded. Driftwood only uses milk from cows that are not treated with the growth hormone rBST. Additionally they have made strong commitments to ensuring fair labor practices in their supply chain. In the 70 years since Mike started the business, Driftwood Dairy has grown from a small family dairy operation to a national corporation, but they still source their milk solely from California dairies, primarily within 200 miles of their El Monte headquarters. Driftwood supplies Oxy with numerous products, from their fresh dairy products including milk, cream and yogurt to orange juice and soy milk. Visit the Driftwood Dairly website.

Flavored syrups and juice concentrates. Espresso Masters supplies the student run Green Bean with flavored syrups and juice concentrates that allow their beverages to be varied and delicious.

F. Gaviña & Sons Inc. is owned and managed by the Gaviña family, who began growing coffee in 1870. Since it’s genesis, F. Gaviña & Sons has expanded from a small coffee farm in Cuba, to a large company with farms across the globe. In 1967 the Gaviña family opened a coffee roasting facility in Los Angeles, and now carry on their roasting operations in a 240,000 square foot facility in Vernon, CA. Oxy serves F. Gaviña & Sons coffee in the Tiger Cooler and at catering events. F. Gaviña & Sons carries multiple organic blends and is invested in sustainable growing practices and fair treatment of their employees. Visit the F. Gaviña & Sons website.

Fosselman's Ice Cream: 6 miles away from Oxy in Alhambra, CA. For over 91 years, Fosselman’s has delighted taste buds with a simple but powerful philosophy: they hand-make the most delicious ice cream, by using only the finest ingredients. Quality, consistency, and customer service have been their guiding values since 1919. Furthermore, no preservatives are used in the development of their products. Fosselman’s has been family owned and operated since day one, and is currently run by brothers John and Chris Fosselman. Get it right here at the Tiger Cooler, or visit their store in Alhambra, just six miles away, to try their exciting array of over 40 flavors. Visit the Fosselman's Ice Cream website.

Four Cafe is a restaurant on Colorado Blvd that specializes in balanced, healthy, sustainable meals. Four Cafe: 1 mile from Oxy, 2122 Colorado Blvd. The Coffee Cart now serves sandwiches, salads, pastas, pastries and more from Faur Cafe's handcrafted, seasonal menu. There are gluten free, vegan and vegetarian options available and most items from Four Cafe are compliant with the Real Food Challenge standards by being humane, local, or organic. Visit the Four Cafe website.

Galasso's Bakery: 40 mi from Oxy in Mira Loma, CA. Founded in 1968, Galasso’s Bakery began as a family-run business. Over the years, the company has grown from a single room delicatessen into a full-line bakery, producing hearth baked sourdough, sliced and French breads as well as dinner rolls, hamburger buns, hot dog buns, and specialty breads. All their products are baked fresh daily just 40 miles from Oxy in Mira Loma, and they deliver that fresh bread to Oxy on an almost daily basis. Visit the Galasso's website.

Beverages and snacks. Gold Star Foods provides Oxy's Marketplace and Tiger Cooler with beverages and snacks. Visit the Gold Star Foods website.

Providing great sodas for the Marketplace. The Great American Syrup Co. supplies Oxy with great American sodas, to fill our Coca Cola soda machine in the Marketplace.

Goat Coffee is a technology driven specialty coffee company. They utilize their background in metrology to help improve the quality of current coffee industry practices. One of their primary goals is to select the world’s best coffees and bring them to their customers, while providing the necessary tools to take the coffee tasting experience to new levels. Goat Coffee is a veteran owned company founded by two friends, banded by brotherhood in the United States Marine Corps, Guillermo Treto and Michael Montes. After years of traveling the country tasting and testing coffees, Treto and Montes' passion for coffee and technology compelled them to create a company that could one day revolutionize the specialty coffee industry. Goat Coffee was officially founded in 2017. They offer organic roasts, including those served in the Marketplace. Visit the Goat website, here.

Guayaki provides the Occidental Dining Facilities with Yerba Mate, an energizing tea drink. Guayaki focuses on social, environmental, cultural, and economic sustainability. They are a certified organic and fair trade company and use the most environmentally sound strategies for packaging and manufacturing their products.

Providing Heart Thrive energy bars. In order to offer a selection of food that caters to all dietary restrictions, the Tiger Cooler orders Heart Thrive energy bars from the Heart Healthy Baking Company. The Heart Thrive energy bars boast high percentages of protein, calcium and fiber. Visit the Healthy Baking Company website.

J.S. Ubardelli Produce Co. is a small family owned produce distribution company, operated by a sole proprietor for the last 65 years. Ubardelli: 12 mi away from Oxy in Arcadia, CA

Owner Ralph Guthaus has been working with Oxy since 1989. Early in the morning, around 1 am when the produce houses are first opening, Ralph goes to the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market to hand select everything Oxy has pre-ordered for that day. Ralph carefully selects all the products himself from his favorite companies, with which he has built strong working relationships over the years. He has favorite produce houses for different items - one company for leafy greens, another for citrus, one for the best organic produce, still another for fresh shell eggs. Because he hand selects everything we order, Ralph is always able to buy the best produce offered that day. After Ralph obtains everything Oxy has ordered he delivers it immediately to Campus Dining - fresh and ready for preparation!

Ice cream, candy, and other sweet treats. Jeff & Tony's is a sweet treats distributor, supplying the Tiger Cooler with Häagen Dazs, Nestle Crunch, Butterfingers and other ice creams and candy. Visit the Jeff & Tony's website.

Salty and sweet snacks. The Marketplace and Tiger Cooler are both kept stocked with many salty and sweet “King Henry” snacks by Knights Distribution.

The Los Angeles Distributing Company emphasizes their ability to bring their customers “new age” and organic grocery items. The grocery section in the Marketplace would not be complete without the Clif bars, Luna bars, Pop Chips and other snacks that LA Distributing Company delivers to Oxy. Visit the LA Distributing Company website.

LA Specialty: Farms within 200 mi of Oxy, and Distribution Center 25 mi from Oxy. LA Specialty is a wholesale supplier of produce, dairy and specialty foods. They provide the vital link between producers and consumers, allowing Oxy to purchase and serve items from farms and producers that are local, or can provide specialty products we can’t get anywhere else. LA Specialty helps us connect with those farms, many of which are within 200 miles of Oxy, and delivers straight to our door. Every week, they put out the “Green Sheet,” which features the best seasonal, local produce for our chefs to choose from. This tool helps us purchase produce that is in season and fresh. It also reduces the distance that produce has to travel before getting to Oxy. Additionally they undertake a variety of green initiatives to reduce their footprint and make their operation more sustainable. Visit the LA Specialty website.

A delicious and varied selection of muffins are a staple of the Marketplace. Le Chef Bakery supplies Oxy with the mix for the muffins, which are then baked fresh every day. Flavors like chocolate chip raspberry, apple cinnamon, berry bran, lemon poppy seed, pumpkin and more manage to keep everyone happy- even the dairy or egg free students, who can pick from the Le Chef vegan muffin flavors. Visit the Le Chef Bakery website.

The Pitman family has owned and operated Mary’s Free Range Chickens since 1954. All of their poultry is raised in California and is at least GAP Step 3 certified, making it humane and sustainable by the Real Food Challenge standards. That means that the chickens and turkeys are raised on land with at least 25% vegetative cover, they have hay bales and eucalyptus branches for enrichment as well as features for chickens to hide, play, and/or isolate themselves with, enough space to flap their wings, dust, bathe, and move about. In addition, Mary’s chickens are never subject to physical alterations like beak trimming, and are never fed antibiotics, animal by-products or growth hormones. Mary’s chickens are popular in Thursday Organic Bar meals and as the grilled chicken breasts from the Tiger Cooler. You could also find Mary’s free range turkey at Oxy’s Own Local and Organic Thanksgiving Feast every November. Visit the Mary's Free Range Chicken website.

Frozen treats. Melodee Ice Cream keeps the freezers in the Marketplace and Tiger Cooler full of frozen treats, from Ben & Jerry’s pints to rainbow popsicles.

Melrose Baking Co. is a conglomeration of multiple small baking companies in the Los Angeles region. After purchasing Susina Bakery's baking department in 2017, Melrose became the primary supplier of breads, rolls, bagels and more at Oxy. Melrose offers organic options and almost all of their products are vegan.

Mutual Trading Company delivers conventional and specialty asian foods to the Marketplace. Koma soba, shelled edamame and tempura shrimp are just a few of the products Oxy receives from Mutual Trading Company.

Naked Juice provides our dining facilities with Kevita Kombucha, a “naturally energizing” kombucha drink. Naked Juice bottles are made from other recycled bottles and use ergonomic designs to promote efficiency in transport and sustainability. They also attempt to use as much solar energy as possible to power their manufacturing facilities. Visit the Naked Juice website for more information.

Nature’s Best provides Occidental’s dining facilities with a variety of organic products. They focus on creating products that are sustainable and mindfully select their ingredients so as to not interfere with endangered herbs and dangerous chemicals.

Conventional and organic nutrition bars. NuGo Nutrition bars are offered at the Marketplace: the conventional NuGo bars as well as the organic line. Visit the NuGo website.

Waffle mix in the Marketplace. Waffle mix from Page Foods is available for students to pour into a waffle maker and top with fruit, whipped cream or syrup on most mornings in the Marketplace.

PepsiCo delivers the popular Naked Juices to the Marketplace. Naked Juice, owned by PepsiCo is a brand that is committed to producing natural fruit smoothies with no added sugar and no preservatives to their customers.

Porto's Bakery has three storefronts in Los Angeles as well as a thriving wholesale business. Many of the delicious sweet and savory Green Bean pastries are from Porto's Bakery. Visit the Porto's Bakery website.

Premier Meat Company provides our dining facilities with an assortment of meat products, including turkey, chicken, and fish. They strive to make sure their products are raised humanely on sustainable farms, in addition to implementing quality control to ensure the best product possible. Premier Meat Co. offers the largest selection of free-range products in the industry.

R.L. Schreiber is a national foodservice producer and distributor of spices, food bases and seasoning blends. The flavors of many favorite student recipes can be attributed to the products the Marketplace receives from R.L. Schreiber. Visit the R.L. Schreiber website.

Red Shell Sushi: Headquartered 20 mi from Oxy. Red Shell Sushi is a local and family owned producer of sushi for Oxy. The owner is even the father of an Oxy alumna! The main factor of their success has been their consistent regard for quality. Their products are naturally made with no MSG, and they source their salmon and crab from Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch list recommended fisheries. It is assured by this local company that their customers will enjoy an all-natural, healthy taste sensation. Red Shell Sushi supplies an assortment of fresh sushi on a daily basis to the Tiger Cooler. This is a definite student favorite! Visit their website.

Vegan cookies, trail mix, flavoring syrups, and more. Reliant Food Service delivers conventional products, like flavoring syrups and trail mix to the Tiger Cooler, and also provides the Gourmet Baking Co. vegan cookies. Visit the Reliant Food Service website.

Bottled drinking water. Located just half a mile from campus, Sparkletts provides Oxy dining facilities with bottled water. Visit the Sparkletts website.

The Sweet & Divine pastries made by Emily, the company owner and baker, that are offered in the Green Bean always taste deliciously fresh and homemade because they are made in small batches in Emily's kitchen.

Our dining facilities rely upon Sysco’s daily deliveries of staple products like rice, cheese and pasta to prepare enough food for the student body. Although Sysco generally stocks conventional products, a growing trend towards sustainable food in the U.S. has incentivized Sysco to start offering products that fit the Real Food Challenge standards, like the certified humane shell eggs served in the Marketplace.

Tasty Products Inc. is a sustainable food company located in Azusa, CA that provides Occidental with Nescafé products. The products provided by this company provide Occidental students, staff, and faculty with sustainable coffee drinks.

Tortilleria La California: 2.5 miles from Oxy. Tortilleria La California is a local bakery that supplies Oxy with tortilla chips, sopes and sometimes tortillas.

Truebrew Outfitters provides Occidental with Rishi Tea. They focus on supporting sustainability, fair labor, and fair wage practices.

Two Leaves and a Bud is a company dedicated to sustainable and fair procurement of tea. The owner has personal relationships with the farmers the company sources tea from, and along with offering many organic varieties of tea, they reduce their environmental impact even more by using biodegradable tea bags and packaging. Visit the Two Leaves and a Bud website.

UNFI is the leading independent national distributor of natural, organic and specialty foods, and organic produce in the United States. UNFI strives to be an outstanding partner in the communities where they work, supporting them economically, and making meaningful contributions to the quality of life. They are additionally committed to supporting socially responsible initiatives that protect the environment and foster stewardship of the land. Visit the UNFI website.

Wholesome Melrose Bakery provides our dining facilities with the majority of our baked goods, apart from english muffins. This bakery is located 23 miles from Occidental, providing us with locally-sourced baked goods.

Workwell Food and Beverage Co. provides our dining facilities with Rishi Tea, Healthade Kombucha, and Brew Dr.

Contact Campus Dining
Johnson Student Center

2nd Floor