Food Innovation Lab

Leading the charge for the Food Innovation Lab is Jason Bolton, Ph.D., Associate Dean of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and Area Coordinator for the Innovation Program at the University of Maine Business School.

In his words, "By having the necessary license and equipment, the lab will allow startups, small- and mid-sized businesses to conduct pilot production trials and sell the products they make there, whether they are meat, seafood, baked goods, or even ice cream. Entrepreneurs will be able to research and develop new goods, scale up production of their existing commodities, package items and distribute them. The facility will feature a loading dock from which to ship products.

“The ability to commercially produce and sell food is exciting, and something that we’ve wanted to do for quite a while as an institution — to help food entrepreneurs and existing companies and also provide really fantastic training and educational opportunities to our learners,” Bolton said.

Bolton said UMaine Extension also hopes to connect students with businesses using the facility  for potential internship opportunities. “Hopefully in the first couple of years, we’ll be able to start co-packing, where we use the talent of students and the staff associated with the center to produce the food for companies that don’t have a workforce,” Bolton said, “so students will get firsthand knowledge of scaling up products and the commercial production of products. We already have companies that are interested in that.”