Mainebiz

V O L . X X X I N O. X V I I I A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 2 5 14 G R E AT E R B A N G O R / N O R T H E R N M A I N E F O C U S A roostook County is famous for its natural beauty, its natural resources and for agriculture. For many years, though, its agricultural products were processed elsewhere. e value in "value-added" often went to processors in other states or countries. Now, there's been a turn of fortune, and local businesses are again thriving because the processing and value add- ing is done here. Although potatoes drive the econ- omy in Aroostook County, potatoes as a commodity do not fetch a high price — especially where they are so abundant — in the County. Potato chips are a different story. Rhett Fox at Fox Family Potato Chips in Mapleton has been in busi- ness for 23 years. He started with tiny equipment making small, time-con- suming batches. Having just built a bigger facility, the business is thriving and expanding. "What I can do now every five minutes would take five hours when I started," says Fox. Fox Family Potato Chips is one of several Maine companies tackling a longstanding issue of the need for processing operations. We also talk to a grain processor in Skowhegan, a tor- tilla maker in Scarborough and a meat processor in Aroostook County. Investment in equipment Fox Family Potato Chips is seeing the advantages of a new processing facil- ity and appropriately sized equipment. Sales are up too. Fox says that they now sell in a month what they sold in the entire year of 2014. e bags of chips produced at Fox's facility in Mapleton come in a bag with a distinctive logo. e bags show five hand-drawn foxes colored in red. "My daughter drew the logo and my son filled it in," says Fox. Although people have recommended that the logo be redone or cleaned up, Rhett Fox likes the way it looks. It has an appeal as distinctive as the flavor of Fox's chips. Fox has received a few small grants — during COVID — but mostly the business has grown because of demand and a claim of making good chips. Fox Family Potato Chips now sells throughout Maine and is moving into southern New England. Gross sales are over $1 million dollars a year. e chips are also available online. Fox says they are in demand online because people learn to like them while visiting Maine. "It turns out a lot of people vaca- tion in Maine," he quips. Fox says that licensing and dealing with state regulations has gone smoothly. "I have no complaints on that end," he says. Processing Burbank ru/sset pota- toes is now more efficient with the more modern equipment. "We used to have to handle the potato like seven times before we put it in the fryer. Now we don't have to touch anything," states Fox. Fox chose Burbanks because of the flavor. "It's not historically a chip- ping potato but that's where the flavor comes from," he says. Although Fox Family Potato Chip Co. is expanding, processing and adding value to Aroostook's abundant potato crop has its difficulties. Fox cites labor shortages as one of the challenges in any processing business. A Skowhegan grain processor Amber Lambke, CEO and co-founder of Maine Grains sells roughly 2 million pounds of processed grain a year. e Skowhegan business sells flour, beans, rolled oats and a variety of other grains, from buckwheat to rye. More than 75% of the grain is grown in Maine — and the mission of the company is to create a local food infrastructure. "We network with 40 farm- ers throughout the Northeast," says Lambke. When the company was founded in 2012, the goals were more modest, she says. "In our early years we had a goal of selling six tons of grain," she says. Now, they are getting new equipment from Germany that will allow Maine Grains to also sell ready-to-eat products. Maine Grains is expanding, says Lambke. Lambke describes the state of Maine as quite supportive of her busi- ness. "It takes a lot of collaboration to do this," she says. Maine Grains received some funding from Maine's Community Development Block Grant Program, which is funded by the federal In Maine, 'value added' is taking on new meaning Growers are finally getting the processors they've long sought B y J o h n O ' M e a r a Fox Family Potato Chips is one of several Maine companies tackling a longstanding issue of the need for processing operations. Mainebiz also talks to a grain processor in Skowhegan, a tortilla maker in Scarborough and a meat processor in Aroostook County. P H O T O S / J O H N O ' M E A R A P H O T O / A M B E R L A M B K E Rhett Fox at Fox Family Potato Chips in Mapleton has been in business for 23 years. He started with tiny equipment making small, time-consuming batches. Having just built a bigger facility, the business is thriving and expanding. Maine Grains in Skowhegan processes some 2 million pounds of grain a year.

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