Hatchet Brand

Illustration of a hatchet in a yellow circle with red text, an outer red ring, then a white ring with blue text

John Q. Twitchell and James P. Champlin started Twitchell, Champlin & Co., a wholesale grocer and extract bottler, around 1880 in Portland, Maine. In 1903, they added a canning business, selling canned peas, corn, string beans, raspberries, strawberries, and fish. They later expanded to production in other parts of New England and sold their canned goods under the Hatchet brand name. 

The historic Twitchell-Champlin Company building on Merrill’s Wharf was built in stages between 1884 and 1924. In 1962, it was converted into a cold storage warehouse. The Portland Waterfront National Register Historic District boundaries were expanded to include Merrill’s Wharf, making the building eligible for historic tax credits, which were used for rehabilitation of the building in 2011.