Perennial Foods Group was founded in 2002 by agricultural visionary, Marcus Thorne, with a simple yet profound belief: that food production should nourish both people and the planet for generations to come. Starting as a small organic cooperative in California's Central Valley, our early days were defined by hands-on partnerships with local family farms who shared our commitment to sustainable practices.
Marcus's background in agroecology taught him that annual cropping systems—replanting every year—were depleting soils, reducing biodiversity, and contributing to climate change. He envisioned a different model: a food system built around perennial crops that live for multiple years, developing deep root systems that stabilize soil, sequester carbon, and require fewer inputs. This vision became the cornerstone of our company's philosophy.
The Perennial Difference
While most food companies focus on short-term yields, we invest in long-term relationships with the land and farming communities. Our "perennial approach" extends beyond crops to encompass perennial partnerships with farmers, perennial commitment to quality, and perennial responsibility to future generations. This holistic perspective sets us apart in an industry often driven by quarterly results rather than generational thinking.
By 2010, we had expanded our network to include over 200 certified organic farms across North America, specializing in perennial staples like nuts, fruits, and perennial grains. Our research division, established in 2012, began collaborating with agricultural universities to develop new perennial crop varieties with higher yields, better nutrition, and greater resilience to climate variations.
Today, Perennial Foods Group stands as a vertically integrated provider of sustainable food ingredients and consumer products, but our core identity remains rooted in those early principles. We continue to be guided by the understanding that true sustainability isn't a marketing claim—it's a practice embedded in every decision we make, from seed selection to supply chain logistics.