Are B&M Baked Beans the Same Since Leaving the Great State of Maine?

There aren't many things that are more "Maine" then baked beans.

I'd even go so far as to say that there are things that are equal, but baked beans are thoroughly ingrained into Maine's culture. They're literally part of the fabric of our identity. All my life, Saturday night has always been bean night. Sure, in adulthood I've gotten away from the practice a bit, but it's still very near and dear to my heart.

When I was a kid, we all looked forward to bean night. We didn't cherish Sunday mornings as much, as there was always an inescapable funk in the air. But if there's one thing that was a little different in every single family, despite the widespread tradition, it was the family recipe. Or, maybe even just the family "brand".

B&M Baked Beans were always the go-to for any Mainer.

Why wouldn't it be? They were made the same way, every day, for 150 years straight. Many generations of families worked in the factory. So it was a shock to everyone when the company decided  to stop making beans there. The parent company had switched hands many times, so it was only a matter of time before it could be done somewhere else.

Since then, the beans have been produced out in Iowa, according to the Press Herald. However, a lot of folks have been taking to places like Reddit, and saying that either the quality has gone down drastically, the recipe has changed, or both. It'll probably only bother people from New England who grew up on them, but still...

It can be an unbelievable shock to a community of people who've grown accustomed to something over the course of 150 years. No matter what, it seems we've lost our beans, haha. Worse, it seems brown bread is getting harder to come by too. If they change the recipe or that, or get rid of it, Maine will likely say goodbye forever to B&M.

Get full for under $20 at any of these spots around Maine...