Couple Kneads a Life They Love in Green Bay, WI
Voyageurs Bakehouse owners Ben Cadman and Celeste Parins have grown a beautiful life and bread empire from the ground up in Green Bay, WI.
Originally from England, Cadman met Green Bay native Parins about 15 years ago while in Malaysia. They both had careers in Asia and lived in Malaysia for several years before moving to Hong Kong and then Australia. When Parins became pregnant with the couple’s first child, they decided to head back to the United States to be closer to her family in Green Bay, where they began job hunting.
“That’s how it happens,” Cadman says. “People meet, and sometimes, you end up back where one of them is originally from.”
Ahead, find out how Cadman and Parins built their bakery in Green Bay and pieced together a life they love in Northeast Wisconsin.
The Rise of Sourdough
Having worked in startups for 10 years, entrepreneurship was a passion for Cadman and Parins. At this career crossroads, they decided to take the leap and become entrepreneurs themselves. After workshopping what kind of business to open, they settled on sourdough.
“I was an enthusiastic sourdough home baker at the time,” Cadman says. “It was summertime here in Wisconsin, and our first child was just born. So, instead of looking for jobs, I started baking more frequently.”
He perfected his technique, built a website and began selling sourdough bread from his home kitchen. In 2018, this endeavor quickly grew to baking in a neighborhood church’s shared kitchen and slinging bread at the local farmers market.
After about 18 months of selling at the market and to local restaurants, Cadman and Parins decided to scale the business by fundraising and opening their first brick and mortar for Voyageurs Bakehouse in downtown Green Bay. The opening date was March 6, 2020, which landed just six days before the Wisconsin COVID stay-at-home order was announced.
“We kind of joke that it was our closing party rather than our opening party,” Cadman says.
Fortunately, Voyageurs was able to pivot to a home delivery format. The community fully embraced them, and orders from all over the Fox Valley kept the bakehouse afloat.
A Community Affair
Life in Greater Green Bay, WI, just seems sweeter when you have access to quality artisan sourdough bread and baked goods, and it became clear that Voyageurs filled that gap with their goods.
With a bakehouse location in Green Bay, Appleton and now East De Pere, Voyageurs Bakehouse has become a beacon for its communities. After outgrowing their original central bakehouse digs in downtown Green Bay, they relocated to a much larger, 10,000-square-foot facility with an 80-seat brunch restaurant.
“Every year, our production is growing,” Cadman says. “We’re doing bigger wholesale. More people find out about the business.”
He says one of the main reasons for the business’ success is the quality of the products. Voyageurs specializes in sourdough and naturally leavened pastries and baked goods, utilizing old-world processes and local ingredients to create perfection.
“When you’re creating a local economy and creating money that’s flowing, those dollars, as much as possible, should go back into your local economy versus buying it from out of state,” Cadman says.
Voyageurs supports local farmers by partnering with them to source the highest quality ingredients. Each week, the bakehouse is supplied with stone ground flour that is made from Wisconsin-grown ancient grains. Of course, being in Wisconsin, all the dairy and butter used is local, along with organic Door County eggs. In the growing season, the bakehouse partners with farmers for their vegetables, fruits and herbs.
Building a Life in Green Bay
Along with building a business, Cadman and Parins have built a life they love in Green Bay, WI. The couple now has three daughters, ages 7, 4 and 2. They have moved around a bit in the Green Bay area, now residing in East De Pere.
One thing Cadman likes best about living in the area is how you can get anywhere you need to go within 15 minutes. After living in some of the busiest cities in the world, the family cherishes the lack of traffic and overall quiet, despite being near all of Green Bay’s amenities.
The area offers excellent schools, low crime and easy access to beautiful natural areas and lakes. It makes for an ideal place to raise a family.
“You know, we have a lot of blue sky, so even in the winter, we might get a few gray weeks here and there, but a lot of the time, you have this beautiful, blue sky,” Cadman says. “It might be sub-freezing temperatures, but the sun is always shining. Everything is great.”
This article is sponsored by the Greater Green Bay Chamber.