Mainebiz Special Editions

V O L . X X I V N O. X V I 62 FA C T BO O K / D O I N G B U S I N E S S I N M A I N E W ild Maine Blueberry Jam may still be the most popular item in Stonewall Kitchen's pantry, but changing consumer tastes — especially among millennials — mean there's constant pressure to innovate. "When you're in the food world, everybody wants something new and exciting," notes culinary product developer Michele Cole, the most senior member of the company's fi ve-person research and development team that tests and tastes all products before they get the green light to go to market. Cole describes their work as half art, half science. After several rounds of company-wide brain- storming, the R&D team jumps into action in its culinary laboratory at the company's York corporate headquarters. ey start by cooking jams, jellies and other food items in small batches on a stove, adjusting fl avors, ingredients and seasoning, record- ing their impressions along the way and comparing notes with each other. e process continues until they fi nd a recipe that meets tough in-house scoring criteria. Sometimes it can take numerous tries to get the right formula — 32 in the case of Dulce de Leche Sauce. Strawberry Lemonade Jelly, among new releases in July 2018, also took several attempts — so many that Cole says she lost track — partly because of varying lemonade tartness-to-sweetness preferences among R&D team members. ey also spent a lot of time testing pectins, which are used as setting agents in jellies and jams, to get the texture perfect. "Trying to get all the stars to align was a long process, probably a couple of months," says Cole. "We had a lot of tries, but we fi nally broke through and were able to do it." On average, the company introduces 50 new products a year, half in January and half in July. Besides the Strawberry Lemonade Jelly, July 2018 releases include Chipotle Ranch Dressing, Country French Dressing, a Maple Shallot Teriyaki Sauce, Buff alo Sauce and Gochujang Sauce. Its top-selling new item is Ghost Pepper Queso that comes with a "wicked hot" warning, about as diff erent from Wild Maine Blueberry Jam as you can get. From farmstand to PE-backed global business Stonewall Kitchen started in 1991 when Jonathan King and Jim Stout sold homemade preserves at a farmers market in Portsmouth, N.H., naming their company for the stone wall outside Stout's mother's cottage in Hampton, N.H. Four years later was a turning point when it won two awards for its roasted garlic and onion jam, prompting hundreds of orders from wholesale customers nation- wide. It opened its fi rst company store that same year. Today, Stonewall Kitchen owns nine stores in the eastern United States (in addition to its fl agship in York), produces 15 million jars a year — not just jams and jellies but also mustards, relishes, dips, sal- sas, spreads and rubs — and ships to more than 50 countries. About 65% of sales are to wholesale cli- ents, which range from small independent retailers to big chains and club wholesalers like Costco, and the rest is split between company stores and direct- to-consumer catalog and online sales. e company changed hands in 2014 when it was sold to Centre Partners, a middle market-focused pri- vate equity fi rm whose portfolio also includes Florida's Sun Orchard Juicery and Golding Farms Foods Inc., a maker of private-label, branded and co-manufactured sauces and condiments. John Stiker, a Harvard-educated food-industry vet- eran who spent eight years at Centre Partners, took the reins as CEO of Stonewall Kitchen in 2014. His offi ce at the York HQ resembles a Stonewall Kitchen store, stacked with jams, sauces and pan- cake mixes in pretty jars and packages. "Business is very good," Stiker says, refl ecting on double-digit sales growth in both wholesale and direct-to-con- sumer channels since he joined the company. It has grown to about 350 employees, and peaks at around 600 over the holidays. "We would say that we have progressed from being a small company to a medium-sized company, which is a nice position to be in," he says. "We're certainly nowhere close to L.L. Bean, but we're a nice size." He also signaled the possibility for further targeted acquisitions to expand into new premium categories in the same vein as its purchase of Tillen Farms, a maker of cocktail garnishes and condiments, completed in January 2018. P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R I N N OVAT I O N / R & D John Stiker, a Harvard- educated food-industry veteran, took the reins as CEO of Stonewall Kitchen in 2014. National brand with R&D culture Stonewall Kitchen: Keeping up with changing tastes

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