4 Maine food products win Golden Fork Awards
Winners and officials at the 2026 Golden Fork Awards include, from left: Seth Goodall, CEO, Maine Center Ventures; Jim Hauptman and John Milburn, co-founders of Molässa; Kate Turcotte, founder of Haymay Creamery; Sam Pierce, founder of Three of Strong Spirits; Irene Moon, senior vice president of sales and marketing, Mark Foods; Andrea Cianchette Maker, president of FocusMaine; Naomi Neville, director of Food Accelerator Programs, Maine Graduate and Professional Center. (Photo by Cailyn Burke Photography)
Four Maine-based products won Golden Fork Awards Thursday as part of the biennial Maine Food Producer Showcase.
Haymay Creamery of Farmington won Best in Show, Savory, for Pudge, a washed-rind cheese made with milk from local farms. Portland’s Molässa won Best in Show, Sweet, for their Hot Molasses, a light, sweet molasses with caramel notes.
Mark Foods/Bristol Seafood of Portland won Best in Show, Seafood, for Wilder Miso Sablefish; and Portland’s Three of Strong Spirits won Best in Show, Beverage, for Valley Cove Rum, a blend of three of the distillery’s oldest barrels.
The event, held at Portland’s Holiday Inn by the Bay, featured more than 70 of the state’s food, beverage and seafood producers. The gathering attracted hundreds of buyers, distributors, retailers, chefs, foodservice professionals and industry partners, and was presented by University of Maine System Graduate & Professional Center (Maine Center).
“The Maine Food Producer Showcase creates meaningful connections between producers and the buyers, distributors and industry partners who can help them grow,” said Naomi Neville, program director of the Maine Center’s Food Accelerators, in a media statement. “Each year we see new relationships formed, new products discovered and new opportunities created for Maine businesses and our broader food economy.”
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Tim Cebula has been a food writer and editor for more than two decades. He was most recently senior editor at Cooking Light magazine, where he worked for 13 years. His work has appeared in Time, Health,. More by Tim Cebula
