Press Conference Bttr Ventures Final

BTTR Ventures, LLC -Revolutionizing Business for a Better World-

Contact: Alex Velez/Nikhil Arora Tel. 858.688.8305 Email: [email protected]/[email protected]

Press Conference: 4/22/09; 2-3 PM 8080 Capwell Drive Oakland, CA

TWO UC BERKELEY STUDENTS INAUGURATE 100% SUSTAINABLE BAY AREA PROJECT Pulp 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 Area on April 22nd 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 in America – the tons of coffee ground waste generated daily – into a highly-demanded, nutritious, and valuable food product: specialty mushrooms. They are inviting press and community members to an afternoon conference to explore the 500 sf. facility producing 1500 lbs a month of oyster and shiitake mushrooms, learn about the possibilities the venture opens up for the Bay Area, try some mushroom dishes prepared by a local chef, and meet with the ZERI Foundation founder, Gunter Pauli, and BTTR Ventures advisers and expert mycologists, Chido Govero from Zimbabwe, and Carmenza Jaramillo from Colombia. Ms. Chido Govero will also be signing copies of her new book which describes how such projects are the key to pulling up our economy. BTTR Ventures, LLC (pronounced “better”) stands for “Back To The Roots,” a phrase that encompasses the idea of creating a company that stands for sustainability, progress, and social responsibility. Beyond the unique approach of using trash to produce a valuable product, a healthy food source, BTTR Ventures is creating urban jobs, preventing thousands of tons of valuable substrate from being dumped into landfills, and donating a substantial portion of its profit back into the communities from which the coffee ground waste originated. This venture hopes to shift the standard 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 UC Berkeley, have been working with guidance from Gunter Pauli and the Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives (ZERI) Foundation, and also Chido Govero from Zimbabwe and Carmenza Jaramillo from Colombia. The two are award-winning mycologists taught by Dr. ST Chang from the University of Hong Kong, and were honorary speakers at the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) conference in Atlanta last week. In fact, between Carmenza and Chido, they have already trained 10,000 individuals in Colombia and Africa in sustainable farming methods. Chido, who works largely with orphan girls to secure their basic needs for food, will also be making available her book, "The Future of Hope: A Message from Africa to a World in Turmoil," for sale beginning April 22nd. Both women, who have dedicated their lives to empowering their communities by teaching the poor how to grow food from local waste products, 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 most prominent, 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 mushrooms after collecting hundreds of pounds of coffee waste through partnerships with local stores such as Starbucks, Peet's, Tully's, and All-Star Cafe in Berkeley. Large grocery stores and produce companies are already excited about the possibility of adding a sustainable, responsible item to their product listing: “We are very excited to be working with Alex and Nikhil,” said Peter Caraher, Inside Sales Director at A&B Produce of South San Francisco. “Given that [A&B Produce] is one of the larger mushroom wholesalers in the Bay Area, we are delighted to partner with and support a 100% sustainable, responsible, regionally-based company”. "There's no better time for such an initiative than now," argued co-founder Nikhil Arora. "With the economic and environmental ruin we're currently in, it's clear we need to rethink the way we do business to create closed-looped entities that work with the environment, not against it. And there's no better place to start rethinking how we do business, then here in the Bay Area."

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BTTR Ventures, LLC -Revolutionizing Business for a Better World-

If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Alex Velez and Nikhil Arora, please email [email protected] or [email protected]. To learn more about the project, visit www.bttrventures.com. For additional information on ZERI and its new 12-day certification program, visit www.zeri.org.

Photos below: 1) Chido’s Book 2) Coffee 3) Chido 4) Carmenza 5) Mushrooms 6) Nikhil Arora 7) Alex Velez 8) Partner Coffee store in Berkeley (All-Star Café)