Every March we celebrate women-owned local businesses carried at the Co-op. Here are three more awesome small businesses owned and operated by savvy Maine women and one woman-founded business (now a cooperative).
Ancestral French Soaps
Based in Monroe, Maine, Nancy Durand started making soaps 8 years ago to fund a circus summer camp for one of our daughters. They made soaps together and sold them at holiday fairs and farmers markets. A couple of years later, she passed it on to her youngest daughter, who was very happy taking over the soap making activities.
In addition to deciding to keep the business, they also decided to bring it to the next level of integrity and purity. They researched a lot about soap making and took a special interest in recipes from the Mediterranean. Italy, Spain and France were early centers of early soap manufacturing, due to their ready supply of raw materials such as plentiful olive trees. During the 16th century, craftsmen from France made olive oil soap by combining the alkali derived from sea plant ashes with olive oil. At the end of the 16th century, soap was being produced by small family companies around Marseille, France. In the south of France, particularly in Provence, they had the necessary raw materials (olive oil, salt and salicorne ashes from the Camargue, lavender) to become the birth place of high quality soap. Nancy knew they wanted to use only 100% olive oil as they base because using organic and native ingredients keeps their products as close to traditional recipes as possible.
These straightforward recipes made hearts joy-jump and fit our values of respecting the planet, while pursuing holistic health. Making soap is a way for Nancy and her family to express their values and offer an everyday essential that is effective, healthier, and cleaner than a majority of what is on the market today. They want to show the way to a post-recycling lifestyle with the modernized old way to clean our world!
www.ancestralfrenchsoaps.com
One Saturday morning in 2006, Lucy forgot to bake a cake for the monthly library bake sale in her village of East Blue Hill, Maine. Always thinking, Lucy took the big batch of granola she had just made, split it into mason jars, and took it down to the bake sale. The granola sold out quickly and soon neighbors were coming to Lucy’s door requesting more. The rest is, as they say, history!
From that first summer Saturday, Lucy’s granola business took off quickly. Today, Lucy’s Granola is available for purchase online and in shops large and small in over fourteen states. From small farmers’ markets on the coast of Maine to L.L.Bean stores across the United States, it’s never been easier to track down a batch of crunchy, delicious granola.
Created in a sun-splashed kitchen that overlooks a sloping meadow and sparkling cove, Lucy’s Granola is not your average granola– it is lighter and less sweet than most commercial brands. Lucy and her dedicated “granola elves” turn every tiny batch by hand, constantly adjusting the cooking technique to ensure the perfect roast, while ten-year-old son Sam eagerly stacks and counts the brimming bags. Daughters Imogen and Cecily are off at college but help out when they are home. Imogen is an expert baker and enjoys experimenting with Lucy’s baking mix. Husband Clifton does a little bit of everything. Keeping her business a family affair allows Lucy to be flexible, so she welcomes custom orders. Just let Lucy know what you crave, and she will whip up a special batch.
Tallow207
Diana Lane was born and raised on Deer Isle, Maine, and currently lives there with her lobsterman husband and their family. Her job number one is being a mom and home educator to their two girls. (Best job ever). She also has a background in classical music keeps a small private studio with a few local students. Most recently though, she renders beef fat and turns it into magical products for your skin.
Her journey to creating tallow products started decades ago when she was a small child and first diagnosed with eczema. Eczema is a really distressing and challenging skin condition without a lot of great treatment options. Over the years, she tried many products, desperate not to be reliant on steroid creams, but still seeking some relief. At times as an adult, the dishydrotic eczema on my hands made basic tasks difficult, never mind playing the piano. It wasn’t until several years ago that she discovered tallow-based creams. It was an instant game-changer. She had never put anything on her eczema before that was so soothing, calming, and healing and it quickly replaced almost all of her other skincare products. Already a fan of rendering her own fats thanks to the abundance of raw product from the many wonderful small farms in the area, the rest was only a matter of time. And so, Tallow207 was born in 2022 and Diana has deeply enjoyed sharing the love of tallow with her family, friends and community ever since.
Tootie’s was founded in 2019 in Biddeford, Maine, by engaged citizens and vegans Sarah Speare (an award-winning food entrepreneur) and Barbara Fiore (a joyful fermenter, gardener, long-time educator, and outdoor enthusiast).
They created Tootie’s Tempeh to model how food production can support local and sustainable agriculture, foster a more democratic economy, and eliminate single-use plastics—all while satisfying discerning tastes and not harming our animal friends. Both previously worked together teaching people how to effect systems change towards a more equitable, humane, and sustainable future. Sarah, who previously led a consumer foods company that sold to a large competitor, serves as Tootie’s CEO. Barbara, formerly the Chief Fermentation Officer, has moved on to new adventures.
“Tootie” was mother to co-founder, Sarah Speare, and the company was named in her honor. Tootie was her nickname and the logo is of her smiling face along with her trademark sunglasses that she never took off. She was an early follower of Rachel Carson and Silent Spring, and often butted heads with town council members and was authentic, unique, immensely talented in the arts, and an entrepreneur.
