Maine Memory Network

Myranda McGowan founded this The Whole Almond, a plant-milk company in Portland in 2016 because she wanted an almond milk with simple ingredients.

The Whole Almond relocated to South Portland, and in 2024 added a vegan butter to its product list.

Manufacturers began advertising “vegetarian” baked beans in Maine newspapers since the 1920s. When the B&M Baked Bean plant closed in late 2021, cans of vegetarian beans were some of the final cans produced there.

Sisters Ashley and Kelly Dow launched Sticky Sweet in January 2017, selling mango sticky rice. But that summer’s heat caused them to pivot to plant-based ice cream, which drew sell-out crowds of customers.

As of 2024, the company sells its ice cream wholesale to local health food stores and from the window of its scoop shop on Cumberland Avenue in Portland.

Indie hip-hop artist Sole, known locally as Tim Holland of Brunswick, began selling his small-batch plant-based meats and cheeses at farmers markets and through Maine health food stores under the name "Midcoast Vegan" in 2022.

The cream cheese ingredients included fermented sunflower seeds, coconut yogurt, white miso, and seasonings.

Atlantic Sea Farms Sea-Veggie Burgers combined Maine-grown kelp with green chickpeas, pea protein, and brown rice to make these nationally marketed burgers.

A significant force in the emergence of Maine as a major producer of nutrient-dense and ocean-cleansing seaweed, Atlantic Sea Farms of Biddeford began in 2009.

Tootie’s Tempeh produced its first commercial batch in 2022, operating in a historic Biddeford mill. As of 2024, the company was a worker-owned cooperative.

First hosted by the Maine Animal Coalition in 2005, the Vegetarian Food Festival soon became VegFest. The annual event occurs, as of 2024, each October in Portland and features vegan food vendors, booths staffed by vegetarian organizations, and a mix of national and local speakers.