A lot of really good entrepreneurial food companies have come out of Vermont, Ben & Jerry's being the most famous. Like MH, it was acquired by a multinational company (Unilever) although it still strives to retain its independence and Vermont character. We live in an adjoining state, and get cheese, chocolate, beer, and syrup from Vermont producers. There's even roasted coffee beans from a producer up there that my wife likes. Most aren't known outside of the northeast.<p>The thing is, in order to survive almost all of these Vermont food ventures have to "export" to other states. The local market isn't big enough. This encourages them to be more experimental, which fits with the state's independent streak but is also necessary to attract die-hard fans elsewhere.<p>To give one pre-pandemic example, if the local cheesemakers attempted to sell product that was just like what you can find in the supermarket there's no way consumers in other states would notice it, much less the restauranteurs in New York and Boston.<p>[Edited Unilever reference]