I was curious why a Southern California company would pick up and move to Richmond, so I called John Roulac. This is what he told me:

• Nutiva needed a much larger facility and wanted to be near the port of Oakland because all their raw materials are imported. The Richmond location came at an attractive price and is centrally located in their prime market for organic foods that includes Berkeley, Marin County, the Oakland Hills and Sonoma County.
• He liked the emphasis the Richmond political leadership has placed on healthy and organic food production. He recognizes that Richmond has some “issues” but feels the City is “up and coming.”
• He was complimentary of Richmond City staff, particularly Richard Mitchell, in helping to facilitate the move.
• I asked him what impact local taxes played in his decision to relocate, and he said “none.” Roulac said business decisions are based on customer demand, not taxes.

There is always a lot of debate about attracting businesses to Richmond and creating jobs. I am gratified that it appears we are doing something right. It was clear that Richmond feels good to him because of quality of life issues and that he wants to contribute to the community, beginning with planting fruit tee orchards at elementary schools in Richmond.
Roulac encouraged me to think about developing a natural foods industry cluster along the north side of Cutting Boulevard between Point Richmond and harbor way South.
Leading Organic Superfood Brand Already Giving Back to New Community
OXNARD, Calif., June 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Nutiva®, the world's leading brand of organic hemp foods, coconut oil, and chia seeds, announced today that on September 1, 2012, it will move its corporate headquarters from Oxnard, in Southern California, to Point Richmond, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Having outgrown its home base due to an enormous rise in product sales over the last several years, Nutiva will plant roots in a 200,000-square-foot building—ten times larger than its current locale.
The move comes amid increased mainstream market demand for organic superfoods, doubling Nutiva's sales over the past 90 days on top of a 42 percent annual growth rate since 2005. Inc. Magazine has named Nutiva one of the fastest growing companies in America for the last three years in a row.
"With the surge of demand for Nutiva's organic superfoods, we needed to expand our headquarters to prepare to meet the projected growth," said Nutiva founder and CEO John W. Roulac. "Point Richmond is an ideal location for us, providing ample space for stocking product and increasing our team."
The Bay Area is a popular location for other brands in the market, having the highest concentration of organic food companies in the world. Nutiva's new headquarters is centrally located, has rail car access, and is only 16 miles from the Port of Oakland, the most central West Coast port. The new locale will allow Nutiva to set up a state-of-the art high-speed manufacturing facility and also expand its private label business.
Nutiva is adding 50 new employees to its team, including a group of seasoned executives who have previous experience with such top brands as Amy's, Spectrum Naturals, Calistoga Water, Real Goods Solar, and the Audubon Society.
Reaffirming its commitment to giving back to community, Nutiva is partnering with Common Vision to plant a fruit tree orchard at every one of the 25 public schools in Richmond. Common Vision has already planted 5,000 fruit trees at over 200 public schools throughout California.
"We are thrilled for the company's move to Richmond, and to work with them to grow thousands of pounds of fresh organic fruit for the youth in this town," said Common Vision Director Leo Buc.
Additionally, Nutiva is a long-time supporter of the Farmer Veteran Coalition and donates 1 percent of its sales to worthy sustainable-agriculture projects. This year Nutiva is on track to give away $400,000.
Nutiva's new headquarters will be located at 213 W. Cutting Boulevard in Point Richmond, California. For more information, please visit: www.nutiva.com or follow the company on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/Nutiva.
About Nutiva®
Nutiva is dedicated to a healthy and sustainable world, demonstrating its mission to nourish people and planet by using delicious organic ingredients, enriching the soil, and donating 1 percent of sales to sustainable-agriculture groups. Founded in 1999, Nutiva is the world's best-selling brand of nutritious organic hemp foods, extra-virgin coconut oil, and chia seeds. Its products are offered by 15,000 retailers in the United States, Canada, and the European Union, including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Vitamin Shoppe, GNC, Publix, Safeway, Loblaws, and Amazon.com.
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Hemp industry thrives amid boom in natural foods
Andrew S. Ross
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Ten years ago, John Roulac was fighting the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration over a banned shipment of hemp seeds he needed for his embryonic health food business in Sebastopol.
This week, Roulac is moving into a 200,000-square-foot building in Point Richmond to accommodate his fast-growing company, Nutiva, which sells hemp-infused protein powder, shakes and seeds, plus non-hemp coconut oil and chia seeds.
"Being in the heart of the organic food industry in Northern California is desirable," said Roulac, citing the new space's proximity to highways, railroads and ports.
Hemp, in its non-psychoactive cannabis form, has long since entered America's food chain, and Nutiva's products are on store shelves all over the Bay Area, including Whole Foods, Safeway and GNC's chain of vitamin shops. Its Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil ranks No. 8 on Amazon.com's list of best-selling grocery and gourmet food items.
Helped by praise for its nutritional benefits from Dr. Oz and Martha Stewart - "enjoy hemp seeds lightly toasted," Stewart recommends - the hemp-based food market was estimated at $40 million in 2010 (excluding sales at chain groceries such as Whole Foods and Safeway), according to Spins, a firm that analyzes the natural products industry. Hemp is "one of the fastest-growing trends" in natural food, Errol Schweizer, Whole Foods' global grocery coordinator, told Bloomberg in March.
Roulac says he is looking to double Nutiva's sales to $80 million next year and will add 40 to 50 new employees once the transition from its Oxnard (Ventura County) site is completed in September. He said the company is profitable but would not disclose numbers.
"The company is doing very well," said Mike Gabriel, lending manager at RSF Social Finance, a social enterprise nonprofit in San Francisco that's been helping finance Nutiva since 2007. "It's a growing, thriving business, and it's aligned with our values," Gabriel said.
Remaining obstacle: The company could do even better if it didn't have to import its raw materials from Canada. While importing hemp food products is legal - after federal courts overruled DEA diktats - hemp farming in the United States is not, despite repeated efforts on the state and federal level to make it so.
Two bills written by state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, have been vetoed - one by ex-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and one in October by Gov. Jerry Brown - citing the federal ban.
"Products made from hemp - clothes, food and bath products - are legally sold in California every day," Brown said in his veto message. "It is absurd that hemp is being imported into the state, but our farmers cannot grow it."