The Cupertino Farmers Market in 2024. The market takes place every Sunday year-round at De Anza College’s parking lot. The West Coast Farmer’s Market Association, which runs 12 markets across the Bay Area, has less than three weeks to find an adequate space to hold dozens of vendors and hundreds of residents who attend the weekly event.
However this time around, the district solicited bids from outside organizations to take over their market operations. The district said the process is considered a “good practice” for public agencies to periodically request proposals to ensure it has the most competitive bids from vendors. “I brought my farmer’s market to De Anza,” Lami said. “Now they’re taking someone else’s business and giving it to another company.”
The bidding was reopened with the intention of giving West Coast an opportunity to continue running its market. At a June 26 meeting, however, the trustees awarded a year-long contract to Pacific Coast to operate the market after all. That contract begins in August while West Coast was instead given an extension to operate at their existing location until the end of July.