Mainebiz

V O L . X X I N O. X V J U LY 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 26 "We want to bring the New England experience to more people," says CEO John Stiker, who took the helm in October. "at's really our mission." As one of York County's major employers the company's core opera- tions will remain intact. "I didn't come in with these plans to change direction," says Stiker. "It's a fabulous company doing great things. We just want to make it more available to more people. You have a lot of awareness of the brand — it's simply tough to find." From a kitchen to corporate HQ Stonewall Kitchen has the kind of origin story that many artisan food makers may dream about. In 1991, founders Jonathan King and Jim Stott started selling jams at farmers markets and eventually expanded into vinegars, oils, pesto and baked goods. After attending New York's Fancy Food Show in 1995, and winning awards for Outstanding Product Line and Outstanding Preserve (for its Roasted Roasted Garlic Onion Jam), orders from major retailers started pouring in. eir breakout product was Orange Cranberry Marmalade. In the rush to fill their first major wholesale order, which came from Crate and Barrel, King and Stott inadvertently misspelled the name on the labels. Crate and Barrel received boxes of jars labeled "mamalade." King, swooped in immediately to explain, in his unmistakeable New England accent, saying, "at's how we say it in Maine!" e company now has 500 products and 10 retail stores in five states. rough wholesale customers, Stonewall Kitchen products are sold at approximately 6,000 stores. e company has 389 employees, including 289 in Maine, plus another 150 seasonal workers between September and December. e company's 57,000-square-foot corporate headquarters — which includes its factory, test kitchen, retail store, cooking school and café and is just off of Exit 7 on I-95 — draws 500,000 visitors a year. It also provides a steady stream of off-season revenue for the county, long after the summer beach-bound tourists have flocked back home. e company makes all of its "wet" products — including jams, pesto, dips, dressings and other jarred goods — in York. e cakes, cookie and mixes for other dry goods are made at other manufacturing facilities. As Stonewall Kitchen has grown, it has inspired a generation of artisanal food makers burgeoning in Maine, says James C. McConnon, an exten- sion business-and-economics special- ist and professor of economics at the University of Maine. e number of food and beverage companies in Maine grew 19% between 2010-13. e bulk of that growth has come from people who are starting just like Stonewall's founders, making products, selling at farmers markets and working to earn more wholesale cus- tomers, McConnon says. Companies like Stonewall and Tom's of Maine — both of which grew from two-person operations to multinational brands — had a lot to do with influencing that, he adds. "What Tom's of Maine did for the health care products industry, I think Stonewall has done for the gourmet specialty food industry here in Maine," says McConnon. By 2013, King and Stott realized that they had reached a turning point. e company was primed to grow. But after more than two decades, King and Stott were ready to step back. So they hired an investment banker to find a buyer, and inked a deal with Centre Partners, a private equity firm with offices in New York City and Los Angeles. "We've worked so hard to create this brand," says King, who plans to remain with the company for three years as chief creative officer. "e one thing we didn't want to do is stagnate. We didn't want to deprive the company of the opportunity to grow. But we knew we weren't the ones who wanted to do that alone." Growth in specialty foods e change at Stonewall happens at a time when the market for the specialty foods the company makes is experiencing unprecedented growth. Sales of specialty foods hit $109 bil- lion in sales in 2014 according to the National Specialty Food Association, a New York-based trade group. e mar- ket grew 19% between 2012 and 2014, outpacing sales of general groceries, which grew by 2% during that time. e growth is being driven largely by consumers in their 20s and 30s, says Ron John Stiker, left, CEO of Stonewall Kitchen, with Jonathan King, one of the two founders. The specialty food brand, which plans to expand its presence nationwide, has 289 employees in Maine, mostly in York County. It is based in York. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F S T O N E WA L L K I T C H E N Beyond New England Stonewall Kitchen looks to expand nationally B y J e n n i f e r V a n A l l e n F O C U S Stonewall Kitchen 2 Stonewall Lane, York Founded: 1991, by Jonathan King and James Stott CEO: John Stiker Employees: 389 (289 in Maine) Annual visitors to York headquarters: 500,000 Products: 500 Stonewall Kitchen retail stores: 10 (in five states) Stores selling Stonewall products: 6,000 (in 41 countries) Most popular product: Wild Maine Blueberry Jam » C O N T I N U E D F R O M C O V E R

• Cover