Kate McAleer

For Norridgewock-based Maine Laboratories, the $50,000 prize will fund automated equipment, freeing the team to focus on research, white papers and advanced testing methods.

The Pine Tree State was well-represented at the New York Fancy Food and Good Food Mercantile shows.

The new product will make its debut at the New England Made Giftware & Specialty Food Show in Portland next week.

Winners will be announced at an April 29 ceremony in Oregon.

The winner, a returning finalist from 2022, is a Camden tech business that helps users start, manage or join a book club. Amply Energy, of Cumberland, was crowned the Emerging Business Award winner.

Bixby Chocolate founder Kate McAleer is taking the Rockland-based company in new directions, via “bean-to-bar” chocolate production and the launch of a coffee brand called Bixenta.

Among the news items: Bixby Chocolate takes home prizes at the International Chocolate Awards, touted as the world's largest chocolate product competition. 

Whether it's female ownership, the chef cooking your food, or the server bringing it out to your table, we know that women have power in this industry.

Mainebiz catches up with five outstanding leaders honored in 2022 to find out what they're working on in 2023.

The Rockland-based chocolatier collaborated with Maine Grains and Allagash Brewing on two award-winning products.