Portland food truck gets national distribution while expanding locally
Courtesy / Bite Into Maine
Bite Into Maine, whose Fort Williams Park Food truck is shown here, will distribute nationally through Goldbelly and get new space in Portland's East Bayside.
Bite Into Maine, which sells gourmet lobster rolls through food trucks and takeout, said Wednesday it has signed a deal with online food website Goldbelly to sell an array of lobster treats and whoopie pies for national distribution.
The lobster food truck company also signed a lease for 3,400 square feet of space in Portland's East Bayside neighborhood, at 31 Diamond St. Bite Into Maine plans to use the site as a kitchen for its food trucks and for its Goldbelly distribution, as well as takeout and possibly a food truck station outside.
“We’ve been looking for space for four to five years. We’ve been working out of 1,000 square feet in Scarborough and have been hitting the walls,” Sarah Sutton, co-owner of Bite Into Maine, told Mainebiz. “Logistically, this was a perfect in-between spot for our two food truck locations for a commissary prep kitchen.”
The new space will be ready in the spring, and the company plans to launch takeout from there in the early summer.
Sutton said the East Bayside neighborhood — with its mix of breweries, coffee shops and old industrial spaces — is a great, growing spot to locate.
“It’s such a cool mix of businesses. Warehouses are getting repurposed. There’s something like 20 breweries in a four-block radius. And we needed a multi-use facility for prep work and storage with on-street parking. It’s really a great niche spot,” Sutton said.
Meanwhile, the company's new deal with Goldbelly, a curated online marketplace for regional and artisanal foods that ships across all 50 states, will help Bite Into Maine offset the seasonal nature of the food-truck business.
Bite Into Maine has one seasonal truck in Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth and one year-round at Allagash Brewing Co. on Industrial Way in Portland. There's also has a small takeout business in Scarborough.
Bite Into Maine launched on Goldbelly this week.
“We’re hoping Goldbelly can be a whole other part of our business,” said Sutton, who said she started receiving Goldbelly orders in the first days without even advertising it.
“We launched this week and orders just started coming in. It’s amazing. We get people from all over the country that come and visit us as a destination place and now they can order it when they go home.”
Sutton said Goldbelly approached Bite Into Maine about a year ago to see if it would be interested in working with the site. Other Maine food purveyors such as Eventide Oyster Co., Hancock Gourmet Lobster Co. and Mook Sea Farm are already on the site.
Bite Into Maine has been limited its ability to handle big catering events and weddings due to lack of space.
“We turn down a lot of weddings and events and hopefully we can grow into this as well in the future,” Sutton said.
She feels lucky to be expanding a food business during the pandemic when a lot of other businesses failed.
“When the pandemic started, it wasn’t apparent that we would. Fortunately, people were more comfortable with outdoor, non-traditional food establishments and takeout. We were both. As a result, our business benefitted,” Sutton said.
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