AUBURN, Maine — Artisanal food is on everyone’s lips, literally, these days. But the makers of farmhouse cheeses and craft breads in the rural areas of Maine must get it to the people who want these goods.

One artisan calls the area a doughnut, meaning that breadmakers and cheesemakers live in the center of a ring surrounded by locals, but the people who want the goods are in the periphery beyond the ring. Local residents are not typically customers because those goods can be expensive and often not to their taste. So artisans look to Portland, Boston, and other gastronomic enclaves for buyers and rely on transport companies to get their products there.