If it were a movie pitch, it would likely be a romantic comedy. But there's nothing funny about Linda L. Bean's ideas for mass-marketing lobster. The New York Times profiled Bean, the 68-year-old heiress to the L.L. Bean fortune, and her plans to shake up the Maine lobster industry:
Her goal, she said, is to save Maine's most iconic industry by ending its dependence on Canadian processors and, under her Linda Bean's Perfect Maine label, to mass market Maine lobster the way Perdue does chicken.Critics suggest that she is destroying the independent spirit of mom-and-pop lobster operations and creating tension with a valued trading partner in Canada. Others see the power of her name and marketing budget as potential boons for the entire industry, which is suffering from rock-bottom prices.
She is representative of the latest trend of designer fish
-- where the label matters as much as the seafood underneath. And she
is pushing for sustainable fishery practices, arguing that the lobster
industry should get certification from the Marine Stewardship Council, a practice that old-time Mainers see as window-dressing on an
industry that has long patrolled and policed its own waters.
In any event, her attempt to
rebrand (and trademark) lobster claws in drawn butter as "lobster
cuddlers" is a bit too cutesy. Anybody who has handled live lobsters
know they are not cuddly shellfish.
Her lobster roll chain, Linda Bean's Perfect Maine,
is starting to get noticed. It has five franchises in Maine, with plans for 100 more. Her signature dish is "Linda Bean's Perfect Maine Lobster Roll," and she's been selling frozen lobster stew on QVC for the past few years.
Whether Bean will become a lobster magnate is a matter of time
and how much of her multi-mullion dollar fortune she is willing to
invest. But she's already found success on one front: She's got
everybody talking about lobster in the fall.
[Image via Flickr: tuppus]
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And if you don't want to go downtown, the Chinese Market on 87th st called "888" is moving in to the old Hy-Vee location on 119th and 69 Highway by Nov. 1. Their lobster prices are a bit more ($10/lb.) than the downtown market as of yesterday, but nowhere near the $22/lb that Hen House wants. And, they are fresh and active.
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