By Will Grunewald
Photograph by Corey Templeton
From our December 2021 issue
1
Ton of uncooked beans per enormous bag delivered to the factory via train until 2015, when the rail line closed and the factory had to start relying on trucking.
145
Height, in feet, of the smokestack that used to vent the rich, sweet scent of baking beans. The stack, torn down earlier this year, was decommissioned some 20 years ago.
1913
Year the factory was built. B&M, founded in 1867, once had canning plants around the state, for everything from lobster to corn to mutton. The famous baked beans joined the menu in 1927.
2/3
Reduction in the factory’s workforce, off its peak of about 300, due to increased automation. B&G, the company that has owned B&M since 1999, is moving production to the Midwest.
13.5
Acres of land the B&M campus comprises. The Roux Institute plans to retain the factory building and add others, for classrooms, labs, offices, a hotel, and retail — a decade-long project, at least.
200
Weight, in pounds, of each iron pot in which huge batches of the beans were baked. These days, commercial baked beans are often cooked after they’re already in the can.