Mainebiz

V O L . X X X N O. I X A P R I L 2 9 , 2 0 2 4 26 3 0 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y F O C U S From craft beer to lobster 10 Maine consumer brands with staying power B Y R E N E E C O R D E S F rom old war horses like L.L.Bean to newer names like Sea Bags and Luke's Lobster, a growing num- ber of Maine brands are recognizable far beyond the state's borders. What makes Maine brands stand out, says Nancy Marshall, CEO of Marshall Communications, is that they resonate in the hearts and minds of the people who make them and those who buy them — and sometimes even their competitors. "Maine brands must be authentic and genuine like the state itself," she says. "Our state doesn't have any toler- ance for anything phony or inauthen- tic, so a strong Maine brand needs to resonate with its community through honest, genuine, direct communications and relationships," she says. To mark the 30 th anniversary of Mainebiz, we compiled a list of 10 home-grown consumer brands with character and cachet, starting with three craft beer heavyweights. Paying homage to his industry forerunners, Tom Ruff, founder and CEO of Portland's Orange Bike Brewing Co., says, "We honor their legacy while forging new frontiers in craft brewing, recognizing their piv- otal role in paving the way for the next generation of brewers." Geary's Geary's Pale Ale was first brewed in 1986 by Portland's D.L. Geary Brewing Co. Founded by the late David and Karen Geary, the craft brewery was the first in New England in the post- Prohibition era and only the 13 th in the United States. Owned by Robin and Alan Lapoint since 2017, the brewery still makes the Original Pale Ale, a classic British-style malty beverage. Allagash Maine's largest brewer, founded by Rob Tod in 1995, specializes in Belgian-style beers led by Allagash White, its award-wining hazy concoc- tion of oats, malted wheat and raw wheat. Allagash White won its first gold medal at the World Beer Cup in 1988, and Todd is a 2019 James Beard Award winner for Outstanding Wine, Spirits or Beer Producer. Shipyard Anchored in Portland's Old Port, Shipyard Brewing Co. was founded in 1994 by Fred Forsley and master brewer Alan Pugsley. With 52,500 barrels produced in 2022, Shipyard is Maine's second-largest brewer, making year-round beers and seasonal faves like Pumpkinhead Ale, a spiced wheat ale often served in a pint glass. Shipyard also owns the Capt'n Eli's Soda brand. Stonewall Kitchen A Maine food brand with 1991 New Hampshire roots, Stonewall Kitchen, which moved to York in 2000, boasts an ever-expanding pantry of specialty foods and home goods from the tradi- tional to the exotic. Fun fact: e com- pany has purchased eight million wild blueberries over the years to make its best-selling Wild Maine Blueberry Jam, the product that started it all. L.L.Bean Maine Hunting Shoe inventor Leon Leonwood Bean founded L.L.Bean in 1912. Today, the family-owned busi- ness makes 500,000 Bean Boots a year in Maine and operates 58 stores in 19 states, along with 25 stores in Japan and 13 in Canada. Every year, over three million people visit the Freeport flag- ship store, which is open 24/7 and is undergoing a $50 million revamp. Luke's Lobster Luke's Lobster, founded in 2009 by Luke Holden and Ben Conniff with a single restaurant in New York City, now operates eateries in a dozen states as well as Japan and Singapore. e name has put Maine on the map as the world's lobster-roll capital, spread- ing its wings — er, claws — in 2024 to Boston's Fenway Park and New York's Rockefeller Center. Sea Bags Sea Bags, a Portland-based maker and retailer of totes and other accessories crafted out of recycled sail cloth, has 50 stores in 15 states, to be joined by five more stores in 2024. Founded in 1999, the company has saved over 1.5 million pounds of material from going into landfills, sponsors a women's sailing team, and scored a multi- year licensing deal with the National Football League in 2024. P ROV I D E D P H O T O P ROV I D E D P H O T O P ROV I D E D P H O T O P ROV I D E D P H O T O P ROV I D E D P H O T O P ROV I D E D P H O T O P ROV I D E D P H O T O Leon Leonwood Bean

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