With its Marin footprint well established with shops in Mill Valley, San Rafael and Larkspur, as well as two in the East Bay and one in San Francisco, Urban Remedy is set to open a new shop in Berkeley this week, with another on Harrison Street in Oakland in the spring, and one in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley neighborhood early this year, according to the newspaper. After a busy 2017, the company will focus on the South Bay.
The brand’s expansion charts to 2014, when Pasquale, who grew up in Mill Valley and attended Old Mill School, brought on as CEO Paul Coletta, an accomplished veteran consumer brand marketer who “helped build food and beverage brands including grilled cheese eatery The Melt, frozen yogurt concern Pinkberry, beverage brands POM Wonderful and Jamba Juice, and Popchips, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company also raised $5 million in Series A funding from micro-venture capital firm Venture51 that year, the Journal reported.
Urban Remedy was born out of Pasquale’s acupuncture practice and her belief that food is medicine. She started creating organic juices for her acupuncture clients at Evo Spa, and the demand eventually grew to the point that it became its own business and she left Evo. Pasquale opened a kitchen and storefront in San Rafael, and later moved the production facility to Richmond to accommodate its growth. All of Urban Remedy’s products are made at the Richmond facility and distributed to its retail locations and via orders made through its website.
“The Bay Area was an ideal place to start Urban Remedy,” Coletta told the East Bay Times. “They understand … the future of food.”
The 411: Urban Remedy is located at 15 East Blithedale Ave. Hours: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Mon.–Fri.); 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Sat.-Sun.). MORE INFO.