PORTLAND, Maine, October 18, 2023 – The Maine Center for Entrepreneurs (MCE) and FocusMaine are proud to announce that FoodTech Maine has officially welcomed its first cohort of participant companies. This marks the beginning of an exciting journey to drive innovation and growth in Maine’s food, agriculture, and aquaculture industries.
FoodTech Maine’s mission is to revolutionize traditional food value chains in response to macro-level food trends such as the growing demand for healthy and sustainable food sources, population growth forecasts, climate change, and increased trade competition. These trends have posed unique challenges to Maine’s food industry, which this program aims to address. By leveraging innovation, technology, and science across all stages of the agrifood industry, including producing, processing, packaging, and waste management, FoodTech Maine will enhance the efficiency and sustainability of the sector, building on Maine’s rich history of high-quality food and beverage production.
Introducing the inaugural participant companies:
EvSe is looking to use seaweed for a variety of applications in the food industry, including as a natural gelling/stabilization ingredient for processed foods, and a replacement for PFAS.
Innovative solutions for mushroom farmers, including substrate products, mushroom start material, in-house designed and manufactured equipment like the “Fenrir” bagger, and consulting services.
3. Maine Garum Company
Maine Garum Company produces unique umami sauces called garums. They use a novel approach by using waste from established processing operations as raw material rather than using large amounts of whole small fish, a foundation of marine ecosystems. Their current product uses eel byproducts, and Maine Garum Company is exploring a product using green crab.
Their flagship product, the Ocean Harvest BagTM, is 100% Beechwood, 100% Biodegradable, and 100% Compostable, and stands to change the standard of shellfish packaging.
5. Salmonics
Biotechnology company that focuses on upcycling salmon blood waste to develop and manufacture biomedical products, reducing the environmental impact of aquaculture practices.
USDA-certified organic seaweed farming and processing that is fully integrated, including wet processing, dry processing, and the creation of various seaweed products such as pellets, seaweed as an ingredient, seaweed powders, and flakes. Exploring additional uses of seaweed ingredients in the food, nutraceutical, and agricultural industries.
Produces tempeh, a sustainable, organic, vegan protein source made from fermented, locally sourced soybeans. Tootie’s Tempeh innovated the US’s first plastic-free fermentation process for tempeh, which combines proprietary HVAC technology in a climate-controlled room, as well as proprietary production equipment and processes.
The participant companies in the inaugural cohort will benefit from customized support and coaching from MCE’s extensive network of local, national, and global experts, immersive education through tailored learning sessions, and inclusion in a community of entrepreneurial business leaders and innovative companies. This support will help them commercialize their products, scale their businesses, and contribute to the growth of the food tech industry in Maine.
“The launch of FoodTech Maine and the participation of these exciting companies mark a significant step towards achieving our mission of growing Maine’s food tech industry,” said Tom Rainey, MCE Executive Director. “We are committed to empowering these participants to drive innovation, create high-paying jobs, and establish a center of excellence in food, beverage, agriculture, and aquaculture related business development in our state.”
FoodTech Maine is an important addition to MCE’s existing suite of food industry support programs, including Top Gun, Cultivator, and MarketShare, and it will complement and expand on these programs.
About MCE:
Founded in 1997, MCE is an independent non-profit organization based in Portland that helps the most promising Maine companies launch and grow through training, connections, and “hands-on” support from over 250 volunteer advisors and business mentors. MCE has a proven track record of serving the state with programs and services through a ‘hub and spoke’ approach. MCE develops programs and curricula that can be delivered at unique locations in partnership with local organizations in all corners of the state. Please visit https://www.mced.biz/.
About FocusMaine: FocusMaine is a statewide economic development organization that works to create quality jobs and build a thriving workforce. With an emphasis on innovation and future readiness, FocusMaine works in partnerships to accelerate Maine’s food economy and bioeconomy. Together, we are generating opportunity and prosperity for Maine’s people, businesses, and communities. For more information, visit www.focusmaine.org.