Made in Maine: Maine Crisp offers gluten free treat to Mainers
A popular Made in Maine cracker has a new home in Winslow.
Maine Crisp says its state-grown ingredient keeps it healthy and gluten-free.
"A Maine Crisp is a gluten-free specialty cracker. We use locally grown buckwheat as the base that's grown in Fort Kent on the Bouchard family farm," Maine Crisp founder Karen Getz said.
It's the buckwheat, a healthier, high-fiber seed that Getz touts as the key to the crunchy cracker's recipe.
"(The cracker) is twice baked. It starts as a loaf of bread, sliced, rebaked – filled with seeds, dried fruit," Getz said.
Getz started Maine Crisp in 2014, working first from her own small kitchen in Waterville. Nine years and two relocations later, the company now operates in Winslow from a 17,000-square-foot facility with 18 employees.
"The goal was to stay in central Maine and hire here," Getz said, adding there is lots of room for expansion.
Maine Crisp already sells in around 800 stores across the country, from neighborhood cheese shops to the grocery giant Whole Foods.
Still, plans include adding two additional ovens and nearly doubling the company's production.
As the company grows, so will its array of snacks. Getz has turned over most of the day-to-day business of operations, allowing her more time in the kitchen – her real love for the business.
"Trying to guess the flavor profile, what people like, you get to experiment, so it's part science, part art. This is my happy place, the test kitchen," Getz said.
"The goal is she is going to dream with snacking crackers and she's going to dream with cookies and she'll dream with other things that people like to eat," Maine Crisp CEO Lewis Goldstein said.
Whatever the next snack she dreams up, she says there's no wavering from what is the Maine Crisp formula.
It all starts with Maine-grown, gluten-free buckwheat that is hand-baked and hand packed.
Looking to learn more about the company, or order your own box of Maine Crisps? Click here.