The Maine Ingredient LLC is a new company specializing in Maine grown, organic ingredients, with a focus on dried herbs and spices.
About 7 years ago I developed a love of gardening and homesteading. I was growing more and shopping local, whenever I could. Then my life turned upside down and I had to move to a new place with almost no space for a garden. After a while, I started asking myself what I could do with the limited space. I began thinking back to all the local food and health food stores. I could get local meat, local dairy, local fresh veggies, and even local fresh herbs just fine... but there were no local dried herbs. I did some research and did some experimenting and The Maine Ingredient was born.
Local: The Maine Ingredient is proud to be a local business. Our products are sourced from certified organic farms in Maine, then dried in Maine, and then packaged into USA made bottles, right here in Maine.
Color and Flavor: Most commercial options dry their product too hot and too fast. The Maine Ingredient uses the same techniques that are used in the medicinal herbalist industry. By using these time-tested techniques, I can produce products that actually have color and flavor, unlike most store bought dried herbs.
Less Plastic: While some of our products come in contact with plastic during processing, none are ever stored in plastic once we have them.
Whole Leaf - We store the products as the largest piece we can for as long as we can. This usually means a whole leaf. Whenever you break apart a dried product, it loses flavor and scent more quickly. By keeping it as large pieces as long as possible, it helps to preserve the product for longer.
