Maine producers shine in 2021 Good Food Awards

Photo / Tim Greenway Atlantic Sea Farms, a Saco company led by 2020 Mainebiz Next List honoree Briana Warner, scooped up two Good Food Awards in the 2021 edition.

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By Renee Cordes

Maine-made delicacies, from Atlantic Sea Farms' Fermented Seaweed Salad to Maine Grains' Pearled Black Barley, were well-represented in the 2021 Good Food Awards, announced in late January by the San Francisco-based Good Food Foundation in a virtual ceremony.

This year's winners, chosen out of 1,928 entries in a September blind tasting, included nine products from the Pine Tree State made by eight producers.

Saco-based kelp processor Atlantic Sea Farms, whose CEO Briana Warner was honored on the 2020 Mainebiz Next List, won two awards, the other for its Sea-Beet Kraut.

"We are so incredibly excited that, for the second year in a row, our company's products have been deemed super tasty, and hyper sustainable, by this prestigious organization," Warner told Mainebiz. "We are on a mission to create delicious products that also help make our coast more resilient and this honor really helps us showcase our social mission and our products to a wider audience."

Maine Grains, a fast-growing Skowhegan-based company led by 2014 Mainebiz Woman to Watch honoree Amber Lambke, the company's co-founder and president also scooped up two awards. It won for its Pearled Black Barley and Marfax Crop Rotation Dry Beans.

Other Maine Good Food Awards winners were: Pressed Herbed Ricotta by Crooked Face Creamery, of Skowhegan; Ginger Kelp Krunch Bars, by Maine Coast Sea Vegetables, of Hancock; Cassis de Resistance Truffle by Ragged Coast Chocolates, a Westbrook firm that changed its name last year in the wake of Black Lives Matter; Apple Rose preserve by Turtle Rock Farm, of Union; and Maine Beer Co.'s Prince Percy Pilsner.

Named after Greek mythological hero Perseus for the constellation pattern on his back, Percy Pilsner is made with Maine malted grains and described on the Freeport craft brewer's website as a nod to its hop-forward focus.

“By fermenting, curing, and crafting truly nourishing food, you create healthy communities better able to face both once in a century pathogens and the strains of everyday life,” said Good Food Awards founder Sarah Weiner in a statement to all winners. “It wouldn’t be long until good food becomes mainstream. Until then, you are the blueprint for this change.”

The 2021 Winners in 17 categories hail from 41 states; Washington, D.C.; and Guam, chosen out of 1,928 entries in a September blind tasting.

Of the 219 winners selected from 336 finalists, 55% are first-time honorees, 51% are female-owned and 10% are owned by Black, indigenous and people of color.

At 44, California had the highest number of winners, followed by Oregon (25), Washington (17), Colorado (15), New York (14) and Vermont (13).

Find the full list of 2021 winners here.