{"id":593,"date":"2011-02-23T12:32:22","date_gmt":"2011-02-23T17:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/"},"modified":"2024-05-06T09:29:59","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T13:29:59","slug":"assistance","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/resources-for-small-food-businesses-in-maine\/assistance\/","title":{"rendered":"Assistance for Starting Home-Based Food Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-567\" src=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2011\/02\/food-safety-business.jpg\" alt=\"Extension food safety team visits the Black Bear Brewery in Orono, Maine; photo by Edwin Remsberg, USDA\" width=\"230\" height=\"162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2011\/02\/food-safety-business.jpg 288w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2011\/02\/food-safety-business-105x74.jpg 105w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 85vw, (max-width: 768px) 67vw, (max-width: 1024px) 62vw,230px\" \/>Are you interested in starting a food business in Maine? We can help!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: medium\"><strong>Begin with Bulletin #3101<\/strong><\/span>, <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/publications\/3101e\/\">Recipe to Market &#8212; How to Start a Specialty Food Business in Maine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Food Licenses and Maine Regulatory Information<\/h3>\n<p>If you are interested in obtaining your food processors license, there are three common food licenses offered by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Quality Assurance and Regulations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Commercial (not shelf-stable foods)<\/li>\n<li>Home-Food Processor (shelf-stable foods, baked goods, without dairy-based frostings and fillings)<\/li>\n<li>Mobile Food Vendor (farmers markets)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.maine.gov\/dacf\/qar\/permits_and_licenses\/index.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Application for food licenses<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If you have regulatory food questions about these licenses or would like to talk to an inspector about a pre-inspection, please visit the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.maine.gov\/dacf\/qar\/index.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Maine Department of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Resources<\/a> for contact information.<\/p>\n<h3>Send your food product in for testing<\/h3>\n<p>For more information, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/foodandagriculture\/process-product-review-testing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Process and Product Review Testing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"workshops\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Education<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/food-safety\/recipe-to-market-program\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Recipe to Market: How to Start a Specialty Food Business in Maine<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/food-safety\/training\/\">Food Industry Workshops<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/business\/specialty-foods\/\">Resources for Maine Food Entrepreneurs<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/extensionpubs.umext.maine.edu\/ePOS\/form=cat.html&amp;cat=77&amp;store=413\">Fact Sheets<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/food-safety\/videos\/\">Videos<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Other Resources at UMaine<\/h3>\n<p>You may be interested in visiting the <a href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/foodandagriculture\/resources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">University of Maine School of Food and Agriculture<\/a> for more information regarding their state-of-the-art food pilot plant or other food technology services.<\/p>\n<h3>Funding<\/h3>\n<p>Could funding help you towards commercializing your food product?<\/p>\n<p>Please check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mainetechnology.org\/get-funded\/where-do-i-start\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Maine Technology Institute\u2019s Grants<\/a>, as they may provide the funding you need to move forward.<\/p>\n<h3>Contact<\/h3>\n<p>If you have any questions on how UMaine can assist you with your food business, please <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/food-safety\/team\/\">contact us<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you interested in starting a food business in Maine? We can help! Begin with Bulletin #3101, Recipe to Market &#8212; How to Start a Specialty Food Business in Maine. Food Licenses and Maine Regulatory Information If you are interested in obtaining your food processors license, there are three common food licenses offered by the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":173,"featured_media":0,"parent":561,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page-withsidebar.php","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-593","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Assistance for Starting Home-Based Food Businesses - Cooperative Extension: Food &amp; Health - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/resources-for-small-food-businesses-in-maine\/assistance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Assistance for Starting Home-Based Food Businesses - Cooperative Extension: Food &amp; Health - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Are you interested in starting a food business in Maine? 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