Tootie’s Tempeh Wins Two Good Food Awards
Tootie's Tempeh, a worker-owned tempeh maker based in Biddeford, Maine, won two 2026 Good Food Awards, taking home honors for both its Traditional and Curry Seasoned tempeh. The awards were decided through a blind tasting of more than 1,200 entries, and Tootie's landed among the 242 products and 198 makers recognized for taste, quality, and production practices.
Winning for both its Traditional and Curry Seasoned tempeh, judged blind against more than 1,200 entries, is a strong showing for a brand only three years into operation. Tootie's landed among the 242 products and 198 makers the program recognized this year.
The company ferments a tempeh it describes as nutty and buttery with no bitterness, and it developed a method that removes plastic bags from production. By its own count, that method has kept more than 150,000 plastic bags out of landfills in three years. Tootie's also operates as a worker-owned cooperative, where the employees who make the product share in the profits and the decisions.
"We couldn't have done this without our hardworking and compassionate worker-owner team, our customers, and our supporters," said CEO and co-founder Sarah Speare.
The Good Food Awards, run by the Good Food Foundation, recognizes makers whose products pair flavor with their production standards, two things the program argues had long been judged apart. For a fast-growing tempeh brand built on both, two trophies in one year is a useful piece of proof.
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