W.A. Bean, based in Bangor, makes red hot dogs — an iconic Maine treat, found on grills statewide all summer. They also sell hams, poultry, high-quality steaks and plenty of other meat products — but there’s one item W.A. Bean makes that, while not quite as popular as their hot dogs, certainly has a niche market.
Since about 2006, W.A. Bean has been one of only a handful of U.S. producers of haggis, a traditional Scottish dish made from sheep’s heart, lungs and liver, stuffed into a sheep’s stomach along with oats, onions and salt.
“Scottish haggis isn’t allowed by the USDA to be imported into the U.S., so we have to make it here,” said David Bean, president of W.A. Bean. “Ours is a little different from what they make in Scotland, since we can’t use lungs here, or the stomach casing. But other than that, it’s pretty close to what they have there.”
W.A. Bean was contracted by McKean’s of Scotland, a haggis producer and distributor, to make the pudding-sausage hybrid, thanks to Scottish history and culture enthusiast Ron Thurston of Falmouth, who connected the two companies. Nearly six years after the first haggis rolled off the W.A. Bean production line, Bean got an interesting phone call from a very big consumer — Disney.
“[Disney’s] Pixar wanted to buy a whole bunch of haggis from us to serve at the premiere party for the movie ‘Brave,’ which is coming out soon,” said David Bean. “It’s definitely the biggest thing to happen to us with our haggis. It’s a really big deal.”
Pixar will serve up several hundred pounds of the Scottish dish at its Hollywood premiere for “Brave,” set for Friday, June 18, catered by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. “Brave,” set to be released in theaters on June 22, tells the story of fictional Scottish princess Merida, who must defend her clan from a curse.
If there’s a summertime craze for all things Scottish, you can thank Pixar — and hope that W.A. Bean will have a run on haggis for the foreseeable future.
“We definitely sell the most haggis in January, right before Burns Day,” said Bean, referring to the celebration of the Scottish poet Robert Burns every Jan. 25. “So this is kind of out of season for us, but we’re thrilled.”
W.A. Bean, continually operated in Bangor by the Bean family for 152 years, is located at 229 Bomarc Road. Its retail shop, located on site, is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and sells a variety of locally processed meat products. You also can order online at beansmeats.com.
mmmmm haggis!!!!! love it
Awesome news, David! Keep up the great work!
“Foodies” why do we make up these pretentious little words????
A “Foodie” is nothing special. I like food. Do you like food? We ALL like food.
Enough with the silly little names.
You people do dig deep for any story . Was a kid falling 15 feet always a news story.
Sigh, I wish I had been at that commencement speaker”s school..
“You’re not special”
Cupcake generation-(Everybody gets one)
Did you know there is a school that is giving out 100 valivictorian certificates.?
Foodie”,
“Everyone is special, everyone is a unique shiny shiny snowflake”
“Oh no honey, I want you to stay home until you’re thirty. FIND YOURSELF”
Our country is shot.
You say we all like food. Then you complain about cupcakes. :P
Do you have any idea how many Cupcake “Artists” there are out there because of a couple of silly shows?
Forget being productive, how many 20 year old kids aspire to be CEO by 25? No work, just, “I deserve this”.
I understand your anguish for loafers sitting in their parents’ basement and agree-this age of entitlement sucks…I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic or offend you but I just could not resist the two food terms being used in such a way. Now I’m thinking “loafers” is close to “loaf” and that there has been a three-way pun somehow…probably just thinking too much but have a good night. :)
Okay i’m fine unless you toss the word “pinch” out. Oops, did I do that?
No tact me, no tact.
You’re not a happy person are you? What have entitlement and loafers sitting in their parents’ basements got to do with haggis?
Great Job David… I thought I was the only one who new of your great store …. Great job
I tried sushi. I tried scrapple. But there, my friends, ends my willingness for adventure. I will never eat haggis. I will not eat it on a dare. I will not eat it if you paid me. I will not eat it if you were blackmailing me, threatening me, torturing me…..but that one would, of course, be redundant. I understand there are some who will be offended. You may fight among yourselves for my portion.
The “Americanized” version does not seem quite as disgusting…I would say the lungs and stomach are two of the top three most unappealing ingredients. Then again, I’ve never ate gizzards or the heart from a turkey either. The most adventurous of foods I’ve tried was probably squid. Grilled and battered, it actually reminded me of chewy chicken. Thinking in that mind-set, I probably wouldn’t mind haggis if I didn’t know I was eating.Many people trick kids into eating Bambi by saying it’s chicken. Most like it until they find out what they are actually eating…An open mind or one that has been lied to is the best way to try new things. ;P
Have you ever had venison? Because I can assure you that it is absolutely NOTHING like chicken. It doesn’t look like it. It doesn’t taste like it.
Okay, tell them it’s steak. You get what I mean.
Go with-out a few days and you will love it.
Disney may be serving this at their convention, but I don’t see a lot of people eating it. My guess is that most of it is going to leave in a hefty bag.
Nooo, I’m sorry ,we were looking for Dr. Seuss. That’s Dr. Seuss.
Really had an opportunity to do a whole “Green eggs” kinda thing.
Deduct, 2 points.
Ever eat sausage? How about hamburger with pink slime (100% beef!)? Do you eat at fast food restaurants? Jello? Do you eat lobster or shrimp which feed on carrion? Chitlins, baloney, pepperoni, hot dogs, boxed grain products such as cereal (lots of bugs, the government allows so many per/lb), pork rinds (pig skin is not just for footballs), are all examples of products on the American plate, indeed in the world diet, which when examined a bit closer are not quite so savory to contemplate. Haggis, like so many foods, was simply a way for the poor folks to make the most of whatever they had available to eat. No part of a sheep, or cow, or chicken, or anything else, went to waste and haggis was meant to make the sheep offal more palatable. So while it may sound disgusting to you and I, there was a reason these foods evolved. I bet you don’t even think about what goes into that pepperoni on your pizza.
I ate sushi once. Took it home, put it in the broiler, tried it. It tasted like fish.
Chieftain if the Pudding Race!
Hoots Man!
Your name is funny.
I have no idea what you’re talking about, but your name is funny.
Once tried Grasshopper Pie prepared with actual grasshoppers. Had no idea, then tried a chocolate covered grasshopper, enjoyed it. would eat again.
Correctly prepared, once disgusting food can be very good.
Disney Employee #1: “We need this nasty crap from Scotland; it’s pretty much just the insides of a sheep thrown into a blender… but it’s illegal to import it from Scotland.. Where can we get it?”
Disney Employee #2: “Let’s try Maine! They seem like they have nothing better to do than to replicate Scottish meat Jell-O!”
….and they were right..
I think this is great!! Who cares if Haggis sounds less than appealing to some? This is fabulous news for a local business. Publicity = Curiosity = Increased Business = Employment. W.A. Bean is one of the city’s best kept secrets in my opinion…I’m amazed about the number of locals that have never head of them. If you’ve never been, go. Better value than the grocery store, and much more fresh. Our family often splits the larger meat packages with other family members and friends…worth the work to separate it’s contents and freeze for later use.
Interesting.
Fine report and happy news. The white text on the video is a bit uncontrastive at times but boy does that reporter need some hair volumizer. I guess there’s a reason why writers show up only in print.
Congrats to a great Bangor company. Good job Davy Bean…love your products but probably will not buy the haggis myself….but certainly encourage you to make and sell it…..