NEK Grains was established in 2020 by Shawn & Sara Gingue.

We could see the demand for local grains but there was a lot of missing in the way of getting the grains from field to table. It is our goal to make it easier for our customers to have fresh, local grains and flour readily available.

Shawn is a fourth-generation farmer and in 2018 started experimenting with small grains in to see if we could even grow them in our area. (spoiler alert: he figured it out). He’s at the heart of the growing and harvesting side of the business, if there is equipment involved Shawn’s likely the one doing it.

Sara took the long road to farming but has settled in well. A hairstylist for many years before she traded in her shears for a granite stone mill and is usually covered in flour. She also runs the Gingue Family Farm store, making sure that we have all the Vermont goodies.

Our wheat is grown at Gingue Family Farm in Waterford, VT and milled on a granite stone mill. We mill this way to capture the full flavor and maintain the nutritional integrity of the entire wheat berry as it gets transformed into flour. Warthog Wheat is known for its excellent flavor and versatility in the baking world. We focus on building healthy soil and choose to grow our grain crops without the use of any pesticides.

At NEK Grains we plant, grow, harvest, clean, store and process every single grain of wheat that goes into the fresh-milled flour we offer. The fields we grow our grain on have been cropped by our family since the mid-1900’s where the primary function of the farm was dairy farming.

In 2018 we did some experimenting with grains in the unique growing environment that is the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and once we realized that we could grow wheat well we focused on that grain crop. Since then we have added soybeans to our grain crop rotation, and have planted some rye and a different variety of wheat so that we can offer a wider variety of flour.

Every single grain is milled on a granite stone mill that gently cracks open the bran of the wheat while also maintaining integrity of the wheat germ, endosperm and natural oils which houses all of the nutrients in each berry of wheat. Our fresh flour has a light, nutty flavor that adds a unique flavor profile to anything that you bake. Flour should have flavor, and we know you’ll notice a delicious difference in all of the NEK Grains products.