Bon Appétit Management Company

Commenting on my post about Bon Appetit Management Company joining the Genetic Engineering Policy Alliance, Diana asked why we serve Boca Burgers which are made from GMOs. Unfortunately, GMOs are so pervasive in the US food supply that, short of going 100% organic (which would bring up a whole host of other issues including having to give up many of our local suppliers in exchange for supporting organic agribusiness and raising our prices) we can’t avoid using some GE ingredients. That’s one of the big reasons we joined the Alliance. We want a mechanism where we can be educated about and support policy that curbs, eliminates, or at a minimum labels, the use of GE seeds. I applaud you for being such an educated consumer! I wish more people we are thoughtful about what they eat as you are. – […]

Our October Eat Local Challenge is still getting attention! John Feffer wrote a thought provoking article on the event for Salon.com’s new food section. For most readers, the "thought provoking" aspect of the piece was probably the idea that a large company like Bon Appetit can buy locally or what our industrialized food system has done to our small family farms and the security of our food system. However, I think about those ideas everyday, so for me the thought provoking part was the comment about students lamenting the loss of "Taco Tuesday." Are Bon Appetit’s ideals getting in the way of giving our customers what they want? Are we thinking too much about where our food comes from and not enough about where it’s going (in many cases to college students)? After some reflection, my conclusion is that the […]

I’m an adventurous eater always in search of new preparations I can try to imitate. Show me something I haven’t had before, and I’ll usually opt for it. Rarely do I find what I seek in a San Francisco taqueria. I get so bored with "vegetarian burritos" that consist of "Spanish" rice, mushy pinto beans, tasteless shredded cheese, "fresh" tomato salsa and shredded iceberg lettuce (no matter what the season). Who took actual "vegetables" out of "vegetarian" tacos? And why should salsa be defined by degrees of heat rather than by flavor? With memories of a few great casual Mexican meals I’ve had (a grilled vegetable burrito in Livermore, CA of all places but, then, why not?, a fresh salsa bar with 18 varieties in Davis, CA, and a dish of grilled corn, heirloom beans and tomatoes, all fresh from […]

Ever since Director of Culinary Support & Development Marc Zammit and I saw the film the Future of Food, we’ve been discussing how Bon Appetit can take a stand on genetically engineered food. Deborah Koons Garcia’s documentary really opened my eyes to the environmental devastation being caused by GMOs as well as the potential health consequences and how far seed companies have gone to “protect” their patented material. Marc and I were both outraged by the way farmers are being treated and varietals are being lost forever. However, sadly, without labeling, it is almost impossible to know if products we purchase are made with GE plants. Bon Appetit’s made from scratch cooking philosophy insulates us somewhat as we have control over most of the ingredients we use but it seems soy protein and corn syrup have found their way into […]

In the somewhat big business model that Bon Appétit works in ,  we value relationships with suppliers as a true partnership. Especially with the smaller, local, non-corporate types like our farmers, ranchers and artisans.  The cultures are very different and we work hard at understanding each other.  We forgive when them the strawberries come in a bit over-ripe or the greens a little dirtier then usual. They understand when we get a little huffy about late deliveries. We are grateful when a farmer calls at the last minute to tell us they are sitting on 500 cases of beautifully sweet ripe peaches  that need to move.   We believe we’re getting something special and we act quickly to create a region wide promotion.  They are grateful when we send our managers to the orchards to pick up and deliver the peaches […]

The community of people who care about our food supply is growing by leaps and bounds. I think we are approaching an important "tipping point." Over the past few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to two groups of people who one might not traditionally think of as food activists. The first was Net Impact – MBA students and professionals interested in using the power of business to make a positive net social, environmental, and economic impact. It was refreshing to hear traditional business people ask questions about transparency, CSR reporting, and sustainability as a business differentiator. I spoke on a panel entitled "The Future of CSR" alongside representatives from Starbucks and Office Depot. Then, this past weekend I gave the keynote at the National Catholic Rural Life Conference in Kansas City. What an interesting and inspiring group of […]

Today’s New York Times includes a special section on small businesses with a cover story on companies involved in local food. The writer, Kim Severson, was a food writer in San Francisco for years and crossed paths with Bon Appetit many times. I’ve heard her speak and always been impressed with her knowledge about food related issues and food politics. We were thrilled to be included in her story "Why Roots Matter More." She does a nice job connecting the recent spinach scare to the importance of buying local food.

I have in my office a stack of #10 canned green beans. Almost every time Bon Appetit CEO Fedele Bauccio walks by, I get a somewhat of a humorous pestering as to “why does my culinary director have canned foods in his office. It’s not us!” But, these cans intrigue me. The beans are grown sustainably on family farms in Willamette, Oregon. The Food Alliance Certified label is pronominally displayed next to the farmer’s name. The producers speak to wildlife conservation and an equitable workplace. To me this sounds like us. It talks to extending our local Farm to Fork season. It talks to sustaining small family farms by encouraging them to process their harvest and expend their markets. It talks to minimizing the carbon footprint by purchasing items that are produced nearby in the off season. But….it doesn’t talk […]

In a large unheated shed with two rotating fans and a few dim fluorescent lights, Bob Calala runs Ohio’s only shrimp nursery, 20 miles west of Oberlin amid corn fields, red barns and vast expanses of flat land. For years this area has been hog territory; now, family farmers are growing more shrimp and fewer hogs. The nursery I visited on Saturday had three tanks that reminded me of above-ground backyard swimming pools but instead of children they contain baby shrimp – 600,000 at the start of the growing process. A 1.5hp pump, powered by French fry oil, blows air into the tanks to circulate the water. The shrimp are fed a compound that is 28% protein, only a small fraction of which is fishmeal, so the toll on ocean resources is small. Within a month, the shrimp double in […]

Bon Appetit CEO Fedele Bauccio serves on the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. The group met in San Francisco last week and Director of Culinary Support & Development Marc Zammit and I had the opportunity to present. The subject of our talk was the barriers to "sustainability" for large food service companies. Marc explained the cultural commitment Bon Appetit has made to sustainability as well as how having a skilled culinary team in every cafe is crucial to our success. We then discussed sourcing, seasonality, complexity and financial adjustments as challenges other companies may face when trying to go "green." Here is a pdf of our PowerPoint…  Download pew_commission_challenges.pdf After the meeting, the group dined at Acme Chophouse, our restaurant at AT&T Park that we run in partnership with Traci Des Jardins. Bill Niman of Niman Ranch, also […]