Farm to Fork Profile: New Creation Farm and a Partnership that Feels Like Family
- by Peter Todaro
In 2014, Vincent Gaikens went looking for a change. After a decade and a half of working for another large food service company, he felt a longing to develop relationships with local farmers and showcase seasonal ingredients from his home state of Ohio.
After a brief job search, Vincent found a match with Bon Appétit at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). “As soon as I started, I was enamored,” says Vincent. “I remember the first delivery I got from a farmer. I shook his hand and felt this connection – like he was transferring responsibility to me through this handshake.”
Bon Appétit chefs on a field trip to New Creation Farm.
As the Campus Executive Chef at CWRU and regional Forager in Bon Appétit’s Southeast-Midwest region, Vincent embraced Bon Appétit’s Farm to Fork commitment from the very beginning of his time with the company. He began reaching out to potential new vendors in the community and picking up many of the partnerships the Bon Appétit team had already established at CWRU. One of those vendors, New Creation Farm, came to represent exactly the sort of relationship that Vincent was searching for when he joined Bon Appétit.
“Bon Appétit came along at a really pivotal time in our business,” remarks Scott Boehnlein, the owner of New Creation Farm. “The farmers’ market wasn’t enough, and we had to make some decisions about how we would move forward.” After meeting Resident District Manager Paul Taylor at a farmers’ market, Scott asked if Paul was interested in sampling some of their pastured beef and sausage. “It just grew from there,” says Scott. “Bon Appétit made it possible for us to make a go at farming.”
From the start, Scott and his wife Crystal have made their farm an expression of their values. “We’ve always looked at the farm and our business as an opportunity to share with people,” Scott says. In addition to raising livestock humanely, on pasture, and providing food for 300-500 local residents a week at their farm store, the farm became a home for their eight children, many of whom were adopted through the foster care system. “Our kids are truly a part of the farm,” Scott remarks. “Some of them had difficult domestic situations, so it’s therapeutic for them to connect with animals and the land – they have the opportunity to really care for something.”
Over the decade that Vincent and Scott have worked together, their partnership and mutual respect have only deepened. The team purchases as many products from the Boehnlein family as possible. “I actually put together sausage recipes and give them to Scott,” says Vincent. “He’ll make something specifically that we’re looking for — you can’t touch that level of collaboration!” In addition to custom-made sausage, all the ground beef on campus comes from New Creation, and the farm’s pork loins, shoulders, and beef brisket find a home on the team’s weekly menus. The consistent support has allowed New Creation to lease more land, expanding their operation and helping to preserve farmland in an area undergoing rapid development.
But the relationship goes far beyond procurement. When a member of the Boehnlein family experienced illness, Vincent and the CWRU team helped to ensure food was one thing they didn’t need to worry about, putting together packaged meals that Scott picked up during his weekly deliveries to campus. After COVID-19 disrupted operations at CWRU, Scott reciprocated the kindness by donating packaged ham, sausage, and beef, which were included in food boxes that the Bon Appétit team provided for furloughed associates during the height of the pandemic.
As Vincent and Scott enter the second decade of collaboration, their partnership is stronger than ever. “[New Creation] is an example of how Farm to Fork allows us to have a positive impact with people who are like family to us,” says Vincent. “It fills my cup – and it’s why I’m so proud to work for this company.”