A mentor-mentee relationship born inside Whole Foods Market's supplier accelerator has turned into a commercial partnership — and a new product on store shelves. New Barn Organics has launched a Buckwheat Milk under its own brand, rolling it out to regional Whole Foods Markets across Southern Pacific, Northern California, Southwest, Rocky Mountain, and Florida as of September 29, 2026. The product is the result of a deepening alliance with BAM the Brand, Inc., the company behind America's first buckwheat-based plant milk.
How the Deal Came Together
The two companies first connected through Whole Foods Market's Local and Emerging Accelerator Program (LEAP), where BAM was selected as a participant and New Barn served as its mentor. What began as guidance evolved into a full commercial arrangement: New Barn acquired BAM's Buckwheat Milk recipes and is now the ingredient company's first commercial customer, sourcing BAM's proprietary Organic Buckwheat Milk Powder to produce the new line. In turn, BAM shifts toward a B2B supplier model, scaling its Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC™) buckwheat supply chain and expanding its powder format into new food and beverage categories.
"The CPG industry is competitive, and we saw a unique opportunity to be stronger together," said Paige Hansen, Founder and CEO of BAM the Brand, Inc. "Plant-based milk remains a core category, and Buckwheat Milk is a natural next step as consumers seek regenerative, delicious ways to diversify their diets."
What Sets the Product Apart
The newly launched milk is gluten-free, Certified Seed Oil Free, and Regenerative Organic Certified® — making it the first New Barn SKU built from the ground up to carry the ROC™ designation. New Barn and BAM worked with the Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA), the nonprofit that administers the ROC standard, to develop and validate the supply chain. For foodservice and retail buyers tracking the plant-based beverage segment, the ROC credential adds a layer of supply chain transparency that increasingly resonates with premium natural channel shoppers.
"BAM's innovation gives us a powerful ingredient to build from, and we're thrilled to bring it to consumers through the New Barn portfolio," said Jasen Ureña, Vice President of New Barn Organics.
Whole Foods' involvement extends beyond shelf placement. Lisa Tosun, Emerging Brands Forager for Whole Foods Market, noted that she had worked with New Barn for roughly nine years and recognized BAM's potential when it joined the LEAP cohort in 2023. Her role in pairing the two companies illustrates how the retailer's accelerator program can function as a dealmaking environment, not just a training ground.
Operator and Retail Implications
For operators and buyers watching regenerative agriculture's growing footprint in foodservice, the New Barn–BAM collaboration signals a maturing buckwheat supply chain. Buckwheat offers practical agronomic advantages — it suppresses weeds, attracts pollinators, and replenishes soil — qualities that align with the ROC framework's emphasis on biodiversity and soil health. BAM's shelf-stable Buckwheat Milk Powder also opens the door for broader foodservice and CPG applications beyond the refrigerated milk set, from protein powders to baked goods to beverage concentrates.
The partnership reflects a broader trend in the natural products channel: established brands absorbing emerging ingredient innovators, bringing both scale and certification credibility to nascent categories. As plant-based milk sales face headwinds from market saturation in oat and almond, buckwheat's climate resilience and nutritional profile position it as a credible differentiation play for retailers and foodservice operators building out their better-for-you beverage programs. Food & Beverage Magazine has tracked how ingredient-forward certifications increasingly influence purchasing decisions at the retail and operator level.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
