Retail>>>Wholesale

| Posted in General News

The Portland Daily Sun has published an article on the growing number of food vendors who are breaking into the wholesale market.

The restaurant-driven path may tempt some producers to go directly into wholesale, but it could be that successful retailing is a good foundation for wholesaling.

At Maples, for example, management reports that of their last 10 outlet deals, only two came from company outreach. The other eight called the company.

Even Whole Foods, the giant retailer that is a Holy Grail for many seeking to take their local, organic products to a larger market, recruited Maple’s.

Retail>>>Wholesale

| Posted in General News

The Portland Daily Sun has published an article on the growing number of food vendors who are breaking into the wholesale market.

The restaurant-driven path may tempt some producers to go directly into wholesale, but it could be that successful retailing is a good foundation for wholesaling.

At Maples, for example, management reports that of their last 10 outlet deals, only two came from company outreach. The other eight called the company.

Even Whole Foods, the giant retailer that is a Holy Grail for many seeking to take their local, organic products to a larger market, recruited Maple’s.

Shipyard Wins Silver

| Posted in Beer

According to A Blog About Beer, Shipyard recently received recognition for their XXXX IPA at a competition in Sweeden.

Of course it’s always a treat to see local boys doing well, so I was pleased to hear the news this morning that Shipyard’s XXXX IPA (the third installment in the brewery’s four-beer-strong Puglsey Signature Series) recently won a silver medal at the Stockholm Beer and Whiskey Festival in the “Ale Modern Style 6% and Above” category. According to the Shipyard press release, the Stockholm Beer and Whiskey Festival is one of Europe’s largest trade and consumer shows and Shipyard was just one of ten U.S. breweries to medal at the festival.

Ken Courtney, The Essay

| Posted in Uncategorized

Portland Food Heads has published a new installment of the site’s essay series. Ken Courtney, a waiter and bartender at Bar Lola, is the author of an essay about surfing, hunger and the nature of food.

If we make sense of our lives in story-form, we’re bound to care about the tales surrounding what sustains us. Narrative lifts food from filling to fulfilling. Though my fast had hardly been worthy of Mahatma Gandhi or Kafka’s hunger artist, it was the remembrance of this principle that brought me back down to earth. I noticed that the lingering aromas from the kitchen had once more assumed their full powers of seduction, and after I was handed an IPA – as if on cue – glasses clinked all around and someone simply said, “To life.”

Maine Brewer’s Festival

| Posted in Events

The Maine Brewer’s Festival is taking place today at the Portland Expo. 16 Maine brewers are taking part including small-scale Portland newcomer Maine Beer Co. The Portland Daily Sun published a piece earlier this week on the Festival:

Brothers David and Daniel Kleban’s tiny brewery is one of four new additions to this year’s event, and they have generated some buzz despite their size — or maybe because of it. They run a one-barrel system, borrow equipment when it comes time to unload supplies and occupy a space slightly beyond homebrewing on the route to the big time.

“I don’t know how much smaller you could possibly get,” said David Kleban. “We don’t even have a forklift, we just borrow one from the folks down the way.”

Review of The Picnic Basket

| Posted in Reviews

The Picnic Basket received 3 stars from this week’s Eat & Run review in the Press Herald.

We tried the roast beef special, which consisted of roast beef, horseradish sauce, lettuce and tomato on a fresh sourdough roll. Everything seemed really fresh, and the horseradish sauce was terrific. It’s the kind that will clear your sinuses.

If your pockets are really light, there are hot dogs for just $1.60 and chili dogs for $2.

Coffee Trio

| Posted in Reviews

The Portland Phoenix has published a trio of reviewlettes for Bard, Morning in Paris and Maine Bean Cafe.

In Portland’s Old Port the turnover this year has been notable. JavaNet closed recently, the last café in town to welcome animals. The old Breaking New Grounds was reborn as Morning in Paris Café. Bard Coffee Roasters opened across the street from Starbucks, and on Commercial Street, Maine Bean Café replaced the Portland Coffee Roasters.

Review of Ruski’s

| Posted in Reviews

Where is Jenner’s Mind has published a review of Ruski’s.

tonight after voting, seth and i went to celebrate democracy with a pint of beer and some fried food. and what better place for such a celebration than ruski’s (212 danforth street)? ruski’s really is a go to place for seth and i for many reasons. number 1: its awesome. number 2: two blocks from our house. number 3: real dive bar. number 4: good food. number 5: unpretentious.

USDA & Maine Food

| Posted in Farming

Yesterday’s Portland Daily Sun published a feature article on the federal government’s pilot efforts to promote organic food.

[U.S. Agriculture Deputy Secretary] Merrigan was in Portland to promote more than $19 million in USDA grants that have been awarded to universities to be applied toward organic agriculture research and education. More than $1.3 million of this appropriation was granted to University of Maine and the University of Vermont for an initiative called the “Northern New England Local Bread Wheat Project.”

This project features Portland’s Borealis Breads as one of its partners, with the goal of increasing the supply of locally grown organic wheat.

Coffee Service

| Posted in General News, Reviews

The USM Free Press has published a review comparing and contrasting the coffee at StarEast and Big Sky.

Both the Star East Cafe and Big Sky Bread Company have other things going for them than what they offer for coffee and breakfast. However, first impressions are first impressions, and Star East didn’t cut it by a long shot. It might be a good place if you are interested in trying falafel or okra stew, but it’s no coffee shop. Big Sky Bread Company takes the cake.

While an unrelated article in the Portland Daily Sun commented on the politics of where you get your java in a independent store friendly food town.