On any given Saturday morning at the West Palm Beach GreenMarket, you’ll spot the white tents and hear the crack of a machete — that's husband and wife Jamal Lake and Joan Lewis, co-owners of Ganache Bakery — splitting fresh coconuts at their “Tropical Oasis” booth.
The bakery’s story is deeply rooted here, where, in fact, it all began.
"Before I was just a moonlight business ... I was working at the Breakers on Palm Beach, doing a green market part-time,” Lake told WLRN.
“And then eventually there was people from the GreenMarket constantly asking where they could get this all the time. So it kind of pushed us to get in a storefront here in downtown West Palm Beach."
The award-winning West Palm Beach GreenMarket returns in a few weeks, now bigger than ever with 150 vendors, 45 of them new. It continues to help small businesses grow into brick-and-mortar success.
The celebrity pastry chef, who gained recognition with an appearance on the Food Network, is known for his Caribbean cakes and rum desserts — staples at Ganache Bakery, now a storefront just blocks away.
Every weekend, Lake — who grew up in St. Croix — still brings the island vibes to the GreenMarket, usually with a separate setup offering coconuts, sugarcane juice, and star fruit.
Lake said this year’s “from the ground up” theme fits perfectly, highlighting where businesses grow and community begins.
“It’s like a vacation within your backyard,” Lake said. So they [residents] come down, they get the coconuts, you get some nice food at the GreenMarket and so forth, and walk around and it’s like a getaway for a few hours and then we go back to regular life.”
The city's “From the Ground Up” theme reflects the journey many vendors take, from first tent to full storefront. It’s also a nod to how the market itself has grown, winning USA Today’s Best Farmers Market title three years in a row.
Tucked along the waterfront, the West Palm Beach GreenMarket isn’t just a place to grab fresh produce or artisan coffee. It's also a launching pad for vendors and ideas alike.
“We're very fortunate to be on the waterfront, and I do think it's location, location, location, said Angela Poco, the city’s Community Events Manager.
She told WLRN the city has a “plethora of different vendors” who want to grow at the market while the legacy ones have consistently shown up.
Several GreenMarket legacy vendors have made the loop to brick-and-mortar, such as Palm Beach Cider Donuts, serving fresh, seasonal donuts; Chick Monk Coffee, starting out wholesale with their India-sourced coffee, then a pop-up, and now a full cafe in the Town of Palm Beach; Bread by Johnny, running two bakeries in West Palm; and Palm Beach Salt Co., hand-harvests artisanal sea salt from the coastal waters of Palm Beach, and recently opened a food business incubator space last year.
Mayor Keith A. James called the market a “community tradition.”
The award-winning market has become a place where ideas take root, especially as the downtown population continues to grow. The city’s population grew by nearly 10% in the last 5 years, from roughly 117,000 in 2020 to approximately 129,500 projected for 2025.
This year, more than 900 hopeful vendors applied. Only 150 made the cut. The selection process includes peer review and a unique judging system to maintain balance and quality because too many of the same kinds of business could water everyone down, Poco said.
Poco and her team go beyond curating booths. They offer workshops, yoga classes, and the Sprouts program, which helps small entrepreneurs gain experience at a major market. With 20,000 weekly visitors, Poco says the market is a launchpad, but not everyone’s ready for the full run.
“So we thought with the Sprouts program, they can start off small. We can teach them. We've got the tools to teach them how to be a small business, how to market themselves,” she said.
IF YOU GO
What: The West Palm Beach GreenMarket
When: Saturday, Oct. 4, and runs every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. along the waterfront through May.
Where: 100 North Clematis Street, West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Learn more details about the West Palm Beach GreenMarket here.
