Hen’s Meat Market, at 306 Bath Road in Wiscasset. Owners Miranda Rumery and Matt Cressey opened the market, which offers products from farms throughout the state, on Dec. 28, 2024. (Piper Pavelich photo)
Devoted to providing the community with fresh, Maine-raised products, Wiscasset farmers Matt Cressey and Miranda Rumery have added “meat market owners” to their repertoire. The couple opened Hen’s Meat Market – an addition to their farm, The Rounded Pig – in Wiscasset on Dec. 28, 2024.
“We want people to have a place where they can buy something that’s healthier and looks better than stuff you’re going to get at Shaw’s and Hannaford,” said Rumery.
Located at 306 Bath Road, Hen’s Meat Market is stocked with meat and poultry from all over the state. With beef raised in Albian, poultry from Warren, pork raised at Cressey and Rumery’s farm in Wiscasset, eggs from Waldoboro, duck eggs from Phippsburg, and lamb and goat from Nobleboro, customers have a plethora of items to choose from when they walk through the door.
Selling products from animals born and raised in Maine is something the pair feels strongly about, said Rumery. The market is a culmination of years of hard work and their desire to have a place in town where community members can buy local.
“We realized that there’s a lot of meat out there that people are buying, thinking they’re getting something that was raised in Maine, and there’s a lot of stipulations and rules that don’t require it to actually be born or raised in this state,” Rumery said.
Additionally, the market is a reflection of the couple’s relationship and the life they’re building together. Its name originates from the term Cressey uses to refer to the couple’s child, Hen, Rumery said.
Both Rumery and the baby, who is due in March, will be making appearances in the market once they’re settled into their new routine.
“It is her store,” Rumery said.
Miranda Rumery (left) and Matt Cressey opened Hen’s Meat Market on Bath Road in Wiscasset on Dec. 28, 2024 with a mission of providing the community with fresh, Maine-raised meat. (Photo courtesy Beauty & Brains Photography)
While the meat market is new to the community, the couple has been in the local farming business for a few years.
Hailing from Phippsburg, Cressey used his savings to buy land on Lowelltown Road in Wiscasset about 10 years ago, when he was just 18 years old, said Rumery. From there, he built a home and developed a farm, where he would later begin raising pigs. After meeting in 2021, the pair developed a relationship, which soon brought them to turning Cressey’s farm into a business, The Rounded Pig, in 2022.
“We went through the state and bought the name for the business, and then we got all the licensing we needed to sell the meat, and we got a Facebook page going, an Instagram, we advertised, learned how to make a Google profile … It kind of took off from there,” Rumery said.
At the farm, the pair specializes in breeding and raising Mangalitsa pigs, a breed of domestic pig that comes from Hungary. They currently have 12 sows, or females, and one boar, or male, for breeding purposes.
Rumery said the couple chose this breed of pig due to its friendliness and adaptability. The Mangalitsa pig can endure differing temperatures and is well suited for small-scale farming.
“In Maine, it’s nice to have pigs that can be outside; it makes farming easy. In the summertime they can also be outside, because they have mud and they lose their hair. They’re really adaptable and it’s like a blessing in disguise,” said Rumery.
The meat of the Mangalitsa pig is marbled with fat, Rumery said, but not “typical fat” a consumer may come across on other cuts of meat.
“That fat is actually full of omega fatty acids, vitamin A, vitamin E, it’s really good for you, and it makes really good lard for cooking and baking,” she said. “They’re a really healthy alternative to your normal pork. They’re a lot juicier, they’re not lean and dry – it’s nice and thick and red.”
Although both Rumery and Cressey have full-time jobs outside of this venture, they are both committed to breeding, raising, and providing healthy meat to the community. Rumery said working with other farmers around the state and opening Hen’s Meat Market is just another way to accomplish that mission.
“I want people to understand that it may cost a little bit more money than Shaw’s but it costs more money because you’re paying for something healthier, happier, (without) chemicals, and you’re supporting all these people. I mean, you’re supporting my business but my business is buying from these farmers that are all over the state and this is their livelihood as well,” Rumery said.
Hen’s Meat Market, at 306 Bath Road in Wiscasset, is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. For more information about The Rounded Pig and Hen’s Meat Market, call 536-2857, email theroundedpigllc@gmail.com, go to theroundedpig.squarespace.com, and find The Rounded Pig and Hen’s Meat Market on Facebook and Instagram.
