Kevin Hannon Never Thought He’d Be Making 1,000 Bagels a Day

May 29

When Kevin and Ali Hannon opened KPort Bagels in 2022, neither of them had ever worked in a bakery.

Kevin had been a project manager for a web company. Ali worked in the mortgage industry. During COVID, the couple found themselves spending more time in southern Maine and rethinking what they wanted their lives to look like.

At the same time, they kept coming back to one simple fact: they loved bagels.

For Ali especially, they had been part of her life for years. Growing up as a competitive athlete, she joked that coaches and nutritionists were strict about almost everything except bagels. “They were like, no, you actually play better when you have a bagel.”

So the couple started making them at home.

Not casually, either.

Through a connection in the New York bagel world, the Hannons were introduced to a New Jersey-based consultant who teaches people how to build bagel businesses. They flew down for an intensive week of training, learning the science behind dough fermentation, proofing, temperature shifts, and timing.

Neither of them realized how technical bagels could be.

The dough takes nearly three days to prepare. Humidity matters. Water temperature matters. A slight change in the weather can completely alter the process.

“Summer bagels and winter bagels take a lot of different timing,” Kevin said. “Every little temperature change matters.”

That attention to detail has helped turn KPort Bagels into one of the busiest breakfast spots in the Kennebunks. During peak summer weekends, the shop can sell close to 1,000 bagels in a single day. The rosemary olive oil and jalapeño cheddar bagels have become customer favorites, along with a chili crunch cream cheese that regularly sells out.

Inside the shop, the experience extends beyond the bagels themselves. Alongside the bakery counter are locally made gifts, paintings, clothing, and small items meant to feel thoughtful and fun rather than overly polished.

“You come here in a good mood,” Ali said. “You don’t come to Kennebunkport by accident.”

The Hannons wanted the space to reflect that feeling. Somewhere people could pick up breakfast, browse around, buy a hostess gift on the way to a weekend stay, or linger a little longer than they planned.

Over time, KPort Bagels has become part of people’s routines. Families stop in every summer. Locals bring visiting relatives. Customers now recognize the couple’s 19-month-old twin daughters around town as “the bagel twins.”

Recently, a couple asked the Hannons to help with their gender reveal by filling bagels with colored cream cheese.

Moments like that still catch them off guard.

“We thought this would just be a fun thing to do in a place we loved,” Ali said. “And it’s turned into something much bigger than we expected.”

Famous for:
Their rosemary olive oil bagels, chili crunch cream cheese, and bagels that regularly sell out before noon.

2 Morning Walk Ln Cottage 7 in Kennebunk, ME | instagram.com/kportbagel