Maine Lobster Processors Investing in the Future

According to recent news reports, several lobster processing companies in Maine are investing in new holding and processing facilities in the state. The largest among these new projects is that of Ready Seafood of Portland through their company Maine Seafood Ventures, currently located in Scarborough. The company, founded by brothers Brendan and John Ready in 2004, plans to construct a new $10 million lobster processing, storage and education center in Saco on 40 acres off Route 1. Maine Seafood Ventures received a $400,000 grant from the Maine Technology Institute to expand markets for fresh Maine lobster by implementing the latest high-pressure processing technology.

Saco is also the site of the Cape Seafood processing plant, part of Luke’s Lobster. Maine Seafood Ventures planned Saco facility will include space for processing and tanks to store live lobsters for shipping. The Ready Ccompanies currently employ more than 200 people to process and sell more than $100 million of lobster a year, with sales split evenly between domestic and foreign markets.Ready Seafood also sold itself to a Canadian specialty food company, Premium Brands of Vancouver, in early September after six months of discussions. The acquisition will give Ready Seafood access to Premium Brands’ worldwide market of more than 2,000 buyers and will provide it the capital to rapidly complete construction of the new Saco facility. The two brothers will remain co-chief executive officers of the company.

Greenhead Lobster, based in Stonington, will be opening a new processing plant in Bucksport next year. Construction began in October at the Buckstown Heritage Park on Route 46. Bucksport offered many incentives for businesses which would add new jobs to the local economy. Greenhead’s new building will be used to process lobster and crab, extracting meat from claws and freezing tails. Hugh Reynolds, president of the company, said in an interview with the Waldo County Village Soup that a major factor in locating at the industrial park was the municipal water supply. The processing facility could use up to 12,000 gallons of water per day for cleaning and hygiene during peak processing runs.

Shucks Maine Lobster president John Hathaway unveiled in August his ambitious plans to build a 16,000-square-foot multi-use Maine Sustainable Seafood Center on the Portland waterfront. In an application to the Portland Fish Pier Authority for a 30-year lease on a vacant Commercial Street lot, Hathaway stated that Shucks Maine Lobster planned to occupy 7,000 square feet of the first floor of the proposed facility to process lobster, employing 40 people to do so. A separate 2,400 square feet of first-floor space would become a restaurant focusing on seafood and locally sourced products. On the second floor, 3,000 square feet would be used for a working waterfront heritage center. There would also be a cooking academy and research and development kitchen, according to the proposal.

Prior to this proposal, Shucks Maine Lobster had received approval in 2017 from the Gorham Planning Board for a 28,000 square foot processing facility in that town. The company received a $400,000 grant from the Maine Technology Institute to expand its lobster processing capacity. Hathaway, however, said that those plans are on hold while he pursues the Portland waterfront project. In 2013, Hathaway signed a lease with Portland for 19,000 square feet in the Portland Ocean Terminal for a Shucks expansion. That agreement was terminated in 2015.The projects, when they are completed, will significantly boost Maine’s existing lobster processing capacity, currently comprising just six large lobster processing facilities, according to the Maine Lobster Dealers Association. In addition to the grants to Maine Seafood Ventures and Shucks Maine Lobster, the Alliance for Maine’s Marine Economy, working with the Maine Technology Institute, also provided $500,000 to Maine Fair Trade Lobster to expand its seafood processing plant in the former Stinson plant in Prospect Harbor and $150,000 to Cape Seafood, Luke’s Lobster’s processing company, for lobster processing equipment at its Saco facility.

According to the Maine Fair Trade website, it is the state’s largest lobster processor with 100,000 square feet of space. The company achieved its goal of handling more than 8 million pounds of lobster employing 130-150 workers in 2015, after its third season in operation. In a 2017 MaineBiz article, Luke Holden explains that Cape Seafood employs 125 people and sources much of its product direct from lobstermen. The company buys 100% of the catch from the Tenants Harbor Fisherman’s Coop, accounting for 20% the company’s supply. Overall, they source about 80% of our lobster from Maine and 20% from Canada.