Tide Mill Creamery poised to expand

An April day at Tide Mill Creamery in Edmunds might involve the birth of three goat kids to an already busy goat nursery and the tinkering with an ongoing recipe experiment for cheddar cheese by cheese‑maker and relief milker Aaron Dunn, not to mention the ongoing production of the certified organic company's kefir, yogurt, raw milk and their year‑round and award‑winning cheese, Little Bloom. Despite all that, owners and spouses Rachel Bell and Nate Horton consider this down time. Another few weeks and it will be back to the races with the twice daily goat milking going full tilt and the summer market demand gearing into full swing.
Tide Mill Creamery has been in operation since 2010, but the idea was born about 15 years ago when Bell was pregnant with her daughter Inez. "I was very interested in local, organic food," she explains. She befriended some farmers and learned about milking, and in 2003 got her own goat herd. She hand‑milked, made cheese and "really enjoyed it and the goats. That's when I got the idea, but it wasn't until 2010. That's when things aligned for the start of the creamery."
The year 2011 was a pivotal moment thanks to the support of an unorganized territories tax increment financing (TIF) grant of just under $20,000. "The TIF grant was the most pivotal moment for making things happen," Bell says. Combined with other funds for a total budget of $62,750, it "allowed us to buy a used vat." It sounds simple, but Bell explains that it was instrumental in helping the company to move to the next level of production. Before the vat, production involved stainless steel pots and spoons. "Creameries are very difficult to get into if you don't have a lot of money," Bell says. Maine, she says, is friendly to small creameries with regulations and policies that have helped develop one of the highest number of creameries per state in the country.
While the creamery started with cow milk products, Bell and Horton bought their own goat herd in 2013. With a TIF grant, loan and additional financing combination, the couple built a 1,000-square-foot creamery. They now have four employees, not including themselves, and add two to three more during the summer.

Winning accolades
In 2015 the American Cheese Society named Tide Mill Creamery's Little Bloom as its national winner. The cheese was featured in Culture: The Word on Cheese magazine's Best Cheeses 2015‑2016 issue and in the 2017 April issue of Down East magazine. Bell adds that last fall Bon Appetit had asked for samples of Tide Mill Creamery's goat milk yogurt. She sent them off and heard no more. All of a sudden months later she started receiving inquiries about the yogurt from potential customers referencing a Bon Appetit list of the "Ten yogurt brands we're very into right now."
All the publicity comes at a good time. Tide Mill Creamery applied for and was awarded another TIF loan, which, combined with other funds, is being used to build a 2,880-square-foot hoop house for their goat herd, revamp their existing goat house, turn cleared land into pasture and browse and purchase a pasteurizing vat. The hoop house will more than double their goat herd space, and the pasteurizing vat will allow them to sell their products across state lines.
While their total herd is at about 60, they have 30 milking goats. They'd like to get that up to 50 over the next few years. They have new products in the pipeline, including new kefir flavors, new cheeses and aged cheeses as a regular product line. However, Bell says that it will most likely be the cheeses that will take center stage for markets across state lines.
Horton grew up on one of the first certified organic farms in the state. Their meeting was a coming together of like minds, Bell says. She describes their personalities as the perfect blend to sustaining the business: she an extrovert who loves the marketing, value‑adding and people side of the business; he an introvert who loves the farming and animal husbandry. The couple wants to grow in a manner that allows them to maintain all their connections to the farm. Bell adds, "There's endless amounts to learn and so many aspects that you try to master." Being a part of the state's creamery culture "is very meaningful. Farmers and cheese makers are great people."
Bell, who is a part of the eighth generation of Bell family members to join the tradition of working the family's Edmunds land to make a living, says, "A huge part of my identity is my relationship to this piece of land, the access to family stories that I can place right here. It's very special to me to absorb history and stories, and that I am in that context as my ancestors before me." She adds, "And decisions to making a living are very much tied to this place and expressing how I love this place." Although, she adds with a smile, "It's not without its heartaches and challenges."
Whether or not daughter Inez and son Jonah will be a part of the creamery's future remains to be seen. "Inez is tremendously helpful in the creamery," says Bell. Like her mother, she enjoys meeting people. "She has her own dreams, so we'll see." Jonah, at 11 years old, loves the goats, Bell says with a laugh. And then she adds with a smile, "Those of us farming here didn't anticipate being here necessarily when we were young."