The labor of cooking is preventing regional, regenerative food systems from growing. Most regional, regenerative foods are sold whole and raw, but most food purchased by both consumers and institutions is processed or prepared.
Consumers and institutions can't afford to take on the additional labor of processing and preparing whole and raw foods. Regenerative regional growers (including small to midsize and BIPOC owned/operated farms) can’t offer consumers and institutions competitive substitutes for conventional processed options. When these growers can't compete, regenerative regional food systems can't scale.
No one has built a systemic solution to this problem until now. Marcellus Foods is our holistic approach to food system change, designed to catalyze meaningful growth for regenerative regional food systems.
How Marcellus Foods came to be
What we do
Build and support regional value chains
Develop and implement culinary training
Reinvest in systems, infrastructure and people
Who we are
Eve Cohen (she/her)
CEO & co-founder | Having spent 14 years in the food industry, Eve has unparalleled expertise in online grocery operations and digital merchandising as well as an impeccable eye for food trends.
Marlee Belmonte (she/her)
VP of Culinary & co-founder | Marlee has mastered feeding 300 people 3 locally-sourced meals per day. She is also a sought-after expert in designing safe, equitable work cultures in the Bay Area.
Dana Berge (he/him)
VP of Experience & co-founder | Dana is an omnichannel operations expert and professional prep cook, applying human-centered design concepts to a broad range of environments.
How we got here
2023
We launched a small 8-week pilot in SLC and acquired 50 customers. People love cooking with preps!
2017
We were too busy and stressed to eat well. We invented preps for fast, easy meals.
2021
Marcellus Foods was born. Preps for all!
2022
We sampled preps with local customers, gathered feedback and tested recipes.
2024
We’ve identified significant demand for preps from foodservice operators. We’ve started preparing to launch operations in CA.
Eve’s great-grandfather, Marcellus Zinsmaster, owned and operated the Zinsmaster Baking Company in Duluth, MN. Marcellus was known for building deep relationships with other bakers and grocers until his life and career were both cut short in 1934.
How Marcellus Foods got its name
Marcellus drove the innovation that pushed Zinsmaster Baking Company to become the first bakery in Minnesota to sell sliced bread, long-hailed as the pinnacle of easy eats. Today, Marcellus Foods provides the same previously unheard-of convenience using simple, honest ingredients.