BTTR Ventures, LLC
-Revolutionizing Business for a Better World-
Contact: Alex Velez/Nikhil AroraPress Conference: 4/22/09; 2-3 PM Tel. 858.688.8305 8080 Capwell Drv.Email: alex@bttrventures.com/nikhil@bttrventures.comOakland, CA TWO UC BERKELEY STUDENTS INAUGURATE 100% SUSTAINABLE BAY AREA PROJECTPulp to Protein: “This Mushroom used to be your Coffee Waste”
Two UC Berkeley student entrepreneurs will be launching a new sustainable venture in the Bay Areaon April 22 at their facility at 8080 Capwell Drive in Oakland from 2-3 PM. BTTR Ventures co-founders, Alex Velez and Nikhil Arora, are working to turn one of the largest waste streams inAmerica – the tons of coffee ground waste generated daily – into a highly-demanded, nutritious, andvaluable food product: specialty mushrooms. They are inviting press and community members to anafternoon conference to explore the 500 sf. facility producing 1500 lbs a month of oyster andshiitake mushrooms, learn about the possibilities the venture opens up for the Bay Area, try somemushroom dishes prepared by a local chef, and meet with the ZERI Foundation founder, GunterPauli, and BTTR Ventures advisers and expert mycologists, Chido Govero, from Zimbabwe, andCarmenza Jaramillo, from Colombia. Ms. Chido Govero will also be releasing her book, describinghow such projects are the key to pulling up our economy, at the event and signing copies.BTTR Ventures, LLC (
pronounced “better”
) stands for “Back To The Roots,” a phrase thatencompasses the idea of creating a company that stands for sustainability, progress, and socialresponsibility. Beyond the unique approach of using trash to produce a valuable product, a healthyfood source, BTTR Ventures is creating urban jobs, preventing thousands of tons of valuablesubstrate from being dumped into landfills, and donating a substantial portion of its profit back intothe communities from which the coffee ground waste originated. This venture hopes to shift thestandard way of doing business, directly impacting our economy and changing the world.Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez, currently two seniors at the Haas School of Business at UCBerkeley, have been working with guidance from Gunter Pauli and the Zero Emissions Research andInitiatives (ZERI) Foundation, and also Chido Govero from Zimbabwe and Carmenza Jaramillo fromColombia. The two are award-winning mycologists taught by Dr. ST Chang, and were honoraryspeakers at the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) conference in Atlanta last week. Infact, between Carmenza and Chido, they have already trained 10,000 individuals in Colombia andAfrica in sustainable farming methods. Chido, who works largely with orphan girls to secure theirbasic needs for food, will also be making available her book, "The Future of Hope: A Message fromAfrica to a World in Turmoil," for sale beginning April 22
nd
. Both women, who have dedicated theirlives to empowering their communities by teaching the poor how to grow food from local wasteproducts, will be serving as special advisors to the Bay Area, BTTR Ventures initiative."It's really an exciting time," says co-founder of BTTR Ventures, Alex Velez. "To have two of the mostprominent, international experts with us to help this project take off in the Bay Area is amazing.We're honored to welcome them here."Chido and Carmenza, along with Alex and Nikhil, will begin the first harvest of specialty mushroomsafter collecting hundreds of pounds of coffee waste through partnerships with local stores such as
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