Well ain’t this a peach? After nine months in business, Dean Corbett has sold Chef Deano’s Quality Produce to Creation Gardens—the very company with which he set out to battle.
What? Huh? Why?
“They can do everything that we could do and more, better and cheaper,” said Corbett, owner of Equus and Jack’s Lounge, and Corbett’s: An American Place. He admits, the change may surprise some. “Selling it is a good deal all around: for me, for them, for the guys who worked for me and for the customers I had.”
Corbett founded Chef Deano’s out of a desire to have more quality control over his pricey produce, foods chefs don’t mind paying extra for when the tomatoes are top notch.
“To a certain extent, I’ve made my point,” he said. “We had the ability to look at 200 cases of produce and say, ‘No. No. Yes. No.’ Creation Gardens needed to find someone within their organization who could do that, and now they do.”
At the time of the sale, Chef Deano’s was up 50 accounts that included local powerhouse chefs such as Kathy Cary of Lilly’s, Shawn Ward of Jack Fry’s and Jason Schuster of 211 Clover. Sales were on trend to ring up $1 million in its first year of business—a sliver, Corbett estimated, of what Creation Gardens rings up annually with clients in Louisville, Lexington and surrounding areas.
“Creation Gardens has the power to purchase 400 cases of something compared to us buying six cases of the same thing, so our customers are now going to get better pricing,” he said. “We were very small, boutique, and their new operation has state-of-the-art refrigeration and lots of space.”
Corbett did not disclose the terms of the deal, but he said he’s recouped his original investment.
“The deal couldn’t have been handled better,” he said. “What’s great is my relationship with them never became adversarial. (COO) Jim Walker and I stayed in communication the whole time I had my company. This is great for everybody.”
Steve Coomes is a Louisville restaurant industry veteran turned food writer. In his 22-year career, he has edited and written for dozens of national trade and consumer publications including Nation's Restaurant News and Southern Living. A past restaurant critic and food feature writer for Louisville magazine, he pens features for ...
