Growing Maine's Food and Beverage Companies

The CEI Tastemakers Initiative, sponsored by FocusMaine, is designed to support, scale and strengthen Maine’s local food systems to be better connected, resilient, and sustainable.

In 2024, Tastemakers will provide grants to established food and beverage companies to expand operational capacity and capabilities to meet targeted growth goals. Food businesses can receive up to $25,000 of one-time grant funds to support operational improvements such as production efficiency and other capacity building work.

Tastemakers Grants

The Tastemaker grant awards will support projects, including hiring consultants or purchasing equipment, in the following areas:

• Pursuing a strategic growth opportunity and/or strategic adjustment to meet long term production and capacity goals.
• Human Resources capability (job descriptions, goal setting & performance reviews, benefits analysis, training, etc.) & workforce attraction, and retention consulting.
• Facility design, site engineering, licensing and permitting (construction costs are not covered).
• Purchasing equipment that will increase capacity to produce an existing product or capability to produce a new product.
• Integrating new or optimizing existing equipment or technology.
• Research and development for new products or product improvements.
• Quality management systems, food safety certification preparation.
• Process improvement to increase capacity eg. improved facility layout, continuous improvement systems.

ELIGIBILITY

• Maine based company
• Maine agriculture, aquaculture or fishery companies or companies that source from Maine agriculture, aquaculture, or fisheries.
• Companies that produce food and beverages for human consumption. At this time, we cannot consider cannabis or hemp businesses for the Tastemakers initiative. Preference will be given to companies making every day, healthy foods.             
• Recipients of Tastemakers funds in 2023 are not eligible to apply for 2024 funding.
• Projects must be ‘shovel ready.’  All Tastemakers projects must be completed by 12/1/2024.
• Incomplete applications will not be considered.

PREFERENCE WILL BE GIVEN TO

• Companies with a plan to increase revenue and hire additional employees within the year.
• Businesses owned by: BIPOC, Women and Veterans (more than 50% ownership)
• Projects that build local supply chains with Maine producers: develop a strategy to increase the sourcing and distributing of Maine grown products.
• Innovative projects that show a new solution to an old problem, create a new product, use a unique production method, or commercialize a researched product or process.
• Production and distribution of everyday, healthy foods.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

• Applications are due by Friday, March 1st at midnight.
• Companies selected to receive Tastemakers awards will be notified by March 31, 2024.
• Projects must be implemented and completed by December 1, 2024.
• Participating companies will be selected through a competitive application process. All proposals will remain confidential.
• Companies will be required to fill out a survey to report on impacts (including jobs created and revenue changes) from projects funded for three years after the grant.   
• Awards will be finalized during a project scoping meeting between the Tastemakers project team and applicants.
• Awardees will have access to CEI’s Business Advising, and Workforce Solutions team.