Santa Cruz Co Native Launches Bay Area 'Farmers Market On Wheels'

WATSONVILLE, CA — Santa Cruz residents can now sign up to have locally sourced grocery items delivered through Farmers Market on Wheels, a business recently launched by a Watsonville native and her South Bay business partner.

The business was born in April 2020 after Carla Bayot of Milpitas said she saw her local farmers market permanently close due to the coronavirus pandemic. She teamed up with Judy Valvillo of Watsonville to start a delivery service and connect a Bay Area farmer with a handful of customers in the San Jose area, then near Oakland.

Farmers Market on Wheels started out working with one farmer, but quickly grew to serve 30 farmers and 100 vendors. It was hard to turn struggling merchants away.

Bayot thought the venture would be over in a few months. But "it turned out to be more of a mission," she said. "A lot of them are asking, 'Can you help us?'"

Bayot, who has a background in hardware engineering, said she built a website for the burgeoning business. Now, Farmers Market on Wheels has expanded to serve 1,000 subscribers with some 80 orders delivered each week.

"As we grew, more and more are thankful, especially the elderly," she said. "That's pretty much their lifeline."

Customers can go to the Farmers Market on Wheels website and select any items they want, from olive oil to zucchini and pork dumplings. Delivery is free for orders $40 and more, and offered throughout the Bay Area —except for the North Bay — and in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties too.

Produce is harvested fresh on Sundays and Mondays, and restaurants also offer inventory made-to-order, Bayot said.

Learn more about Farmers Market on Wheels here.