Upcoming Events
Are you ready to ensure your food packaging and labeling meet all the right standards? Join us for our series of engaging webinars designed to help you master the essentials of food packaging and labeling—critical aspects every brand needs to get right. Dive into legal labeling requirements, gain actionable insights that will protect your brand and build consumer trust, and explore how food packaging design can elevate your brand. Don’t miss out on these valuable opportunities to enhance your food business. Mark your calendars and ensure your labeling and packaging are on point! To ensure your email is on the invite list, please contact nneville@mced.biz.
Maine Entrepreneurs Summit 2025!
Past Events
2024 Maine Food Producers Showcase and Golden Fork Awards
The 2024 Maine Food Producers Showcase, held on October 24th at Brick South on Thompson’s Point was a huge success, celebrating Maine’s vibrant food industry. With over 500 attendees, this year’s event was the largest yet, featuring 55 of Maine’s emerging food and beverage companies. The Showcase brought together grocery buyers, distributors, restaurants, and other key industry professionals to connect with local producers, sample new products, and explore opportunities for collaboration.
A highlight of the day was the announcement of the Maine Golden Fork Award winners, which honored the best in Maine food production across three categories. After a blind tasting by a panel of chefs, retail buyers, and industry experts, Parlor Ice Cream, Fishermen’s Net, and Grandy Organics were named this year’s winners for Retail Best in Show, Foodservice Best in Show, and Best New Product, respectively.
The event showcased Maine’s rich seafood industry, with 21 seafood and aquaculture companies participating, highlighting iconic products like lobster, scallops, oysters, and value-added seaweed. The enthusiasm from buyers and distributors demonstrated the growing demand for premium Maine products in both regional and national markets.
As part of a partnership between the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs (MCE) and FocusMaine, the event continues to support job creation and economic growth in Maine’s food sector.
Stay tuned for more exciting developments as MCE and FocusMaine continue to drive innovation and opportunities in Maine’s food industry!
BioStartup Blueprint: From Idea to Funding Webinar Series
Our BioStartup Speaker Series, presented by The Maine Center for Entrepreneurs and Maine Health’s Innovation Center, was a comprehensive 3-Part virtual event designed to guide aspiring entrepreneurs through the critical stages of launching a new venture. The series featured industry experts Todd Keiller, Brady Bohrmann, and Andrea Suter, Esq., who provided in-depth insights on a variety of essential topics. Attendees learned about pre-company formation considerations, strategies for protecting intellectual property, validating value propositions through customer discovery, and the key elements of a robust business plan. The series also covered the necessary legal steps for startups, offering practical advice to help participants navigate the complexities of establishing a new business. Each session was packed with actionable guidance, fostering a supportive and knowledgeable community of emerging entrepreneurs.
Maine Entrepreneurs Summit & Top Gun Showcase Winner
In May, we were thrilled to combine our Maine Entrepreneurs Summit with Maine Startup Week, resulting in our largest attendance ever. Our keynote speaker Kevin Hancock, Chairman and CEO of Hancock Lumber, distinguished TED Talks speaker and award-winning author, gave a very motivating presentation on shared leadership and generously shared a copy of his book with attendees. Our two workshops this year focused on Supporting Maine Immigrant Entrepreneurs in pursuing their business dreams and Mastering a Business Pitch to attract investors, customers and partners.
A total of 38 startups completed the 2024 Top Gun program and ten finalists pitched for the Top Gun top spot. A big congrats to Nor’easter Oyster for winning this year’s Top Gun $25,000 pitch prize! We also congratulate BlackTravel Maine, recipient of our 2024 Top Gun diversity scholarship, OPTImind Labs who won the Victoria Hilliard Donovan Award for women in Science and Technology and DeltaCom Coffee who received the Michael Sheehan Memorial Award.
2024 FoodTech Maine Showcase
On April 9th, 2024, Innovators, foodies and tech enthusiasts attended MCE’s inaugural FoodTech Maine Showcase featuring 6 MCE FoodTech Maine member companies, highlighting how the convergence of sustainability and technology is advancing our food system. Attendees were introduced to the innovative companies in MCE’s first FoodTech Maine Cohort: Springtide Seaweed, Ocean Farm Supply, Salmonics, Cap n’ Stem, Maine Garum Company and Everything Seaweed. Peter Handy, President and CEO of Bristol Seafood, provided the keynote and insights on the role of food tech in Maine and around the world, and how Bristol became one of the world’s leaders in seafood sustainability. Over 100 people attended the event held at the McGoldrick Center at USM.
Natural Products Expo East – September 2023, Philadelphia, PA
MCE’s Food Accelerator Team exhibited at the 2023 Natural Products Expo East trade show alongside a distinguished group of award-winning MCE member companies that included Atlantic Sea Farms, Bristol Seafood, Diggables, and Maine Crisp Co. Additional MCE Food Accelerator member companies also participated in the show, including: Luke’s Lobster, Grandy Organics, Green Bee, Maine Homestead, Ocean’s Balance, Papous Kitchen, Pineland Farms Dairy, Short Creek Farm and Vena’s Fizz House.
In addition to exhibiting and promoting Maine’s food industry, MCE hosted a ‘Make it Maine’ Cocktail Reception featuring signature Maine beverages, surf & turf appetizers and tasty snacks. This exclusive event provided a unique opportunity for targeted buyers from leading grocers, retailers, and distributors within the natural and specialty foods industry to explore and savor the diverse range of products and meet the passionate founders and innovators of Maine’s food community.
