Blending old-fashioned hard work with a dash of ingenuity, these bold entrepreneurs bring their homegrown ideas from seed to market. While all hail from diverse backgrounds and disciplines, all follow their passions (and their gut), navigate unforeseen headwinds, and embrace exhaustive experimentation to perfect their craft.
Backyard Garlic
Rebecca Hennessy and Margaret Witham harvest over 1500 pounds of garlic in Hennessy’s Eliot backyard every July, the first step in a highly labor-intensive process to produce their organic, locally grown Backyard Garlic. The idea sprouted in 2017 when the pair met “garlic guy” Don Womack at a farm and food conference, leading to their “eureka” moment. Securing Womack as a mentor and backyard space from friends, they dug into their garlic venture. After selling out at a Button Factory event that same year, they pivoted to a wholesale model—landing coveted shelf space in local markets. Eight years later, 7,000 units (bottles and refill packages) are hand-produced and sold at over 45 markets across the Northeast. Visit backyardgarlic.farm.
Cass Caps
Frustrated with the tedious measuring process while making bread one day, Mark Lacasse designed a spice jar cap that, with a simple twist, dispatches the exact portion needed—no measuring spoons. The innovation would sit on the shelf for years as Lacasse worked his day job in global business. However, an earlier experience designing a pineapple slicer ensured his idea would not gather dust—just tucked away for a rainy day. In 2020, after retiring, that day came. Lacasse patented his cap and, with his daughter, Erika, launched CassCaps on Kickstarter, becoming the #1 food category campaign. On the heels of this success, Lacasse fine-tuned the product and relaunched CassCaps this summer. Visit casscaps.com.
Gulf of Maine Conservas
On a trip to Spain, Keper Connell of Rye experienced the delicacy of seafood “conservas,” a Spanish tradition of preserving food in cans or jars—not the bunker food we associate with tinned products. Growing up in the restaurant business and as a commercial fisherman, Connell understands the source-to-table chain of custody. With conservas, he saw an opportunity to elevate and extend the life of his product, line-caught Gulf of Maine fish. So, in 2019, Connell started playing around with flavors and ways to produce small-batch domestic conservas sustainably. Thanks to his perseverance, consumers can now enjoy locally harvested bluefin tuna straight from their pantry anytime, or how about an ELT prepared with Connell’s smoked eel conservas? Delish. Visit gulfofmaineconservas.com.
The Spicy Shark
Gabe DiSaverio, The Spicy Shark hot sauce founder and confessed Jaws fanatic, developed an appetite for spicy cuisine growing up in an ethnically diverse neighborhood. The fanatic became an active conservationist in 2012 after learning about the shark plight at Jaws Fest. Then, in 2017, after leaving the beer industry to help run a family business, DiSaverio began experimenting with hot sauce recipes. After months of family taste testing, everything culminated in 2019 when The Spicy Shark launched, blending his two passions—hot sauce and sharks. Now, with 13 sauces, numerous industry awards, and a customized Chief Brody-inspired 1975 Chevy Blazer, there is no stopping DiSaverio. Let the feeding frenzy begin. Visit spicyshark.com.
Dunk’s Mushrooms
William Dunkley (Dunk) started his Brentwood-based mushroom emporium selling wild mushrooms to chefs and specialty markets. While he foraged as a kid in Errol, NH, he started wild mushrooming as an adult. The short season made scaling a challenge, so after a successful cloning experiment, Dunk began growing his own varieties. Then Covid hit, restaurants shuttered, and Dunk had 2000 pounds of mushrooms growing weekly with no stopping. The ever-resilient entrepreneur capitalized on his culinary background to expand his mushroom-based products. Today, Dunk offers nutritious energy bars, coffee, pot pies, chili, and his favorite and most recent addition, a Chaga Chai dark chocolate bar made in collaboration with Manchester-based Loon Chocolate. Visit dunksmushrooms.com.
Beach & Farm
Years ago, Sara Hamilton of Portsmouth seeded a cheery holiday gift idea, concocting a salt/spice blend with herbs from her garden and packing it in a fancy jar with festive string for gifting. Word spread and her recipient list grew as she continued the tradition. People started bringing her herbs and spices from their travels so Hamilton could experiment with them in her ongoing quest to perfect her “special salt” recipe. Finally, in 2016, with her proprietary blend perfected, Hamilton started renting commercial kitchen space from Terra Cotta Pasta Co. to produce her original Beach & Farm “special salt” mix and “special spice” rub added for her local fans. Visit beachandfarm.com.