Saving Seafood

Spike in Northeast Lobster Price Stings LA Distributor

June 23, 2015 — The days of cheap lobster are over. From Maine to Monterey Park, consumers are shelling out more for the delicacy.

Wholesale prices are up about 20% compared with last year’s, said Chol Pak, president of Los Angeles-based Pacific Fresh Fish Co., which has sold seafood to restaurants in the L.A. area for 33 years.

His company sells Maine American Lobster for $8.95 per pound. Sales are down, he said, because that’s more than most of his buyers want to pay.

William Cheng, manager at NBC Seafood Restaurant in Monterey Park, said that at $16.99 a pound, the restaurant is charging customers $1 more a pound than last year.

“We don’t want to raise the price a lot because then the customers would have to pay more and there is just too much competition,” he said.

One reason for the price increase: An unusually cold winter in the Northeast delayed the summer harvest in Maine. Fishermen must wait until lobsters shed their shells and reach legal harvesting size.

Read the full story at Los Angeles Times

 

Reintroduction of McDonald’s lobster roll doesn’t rattle NH seafood restaurants

June 22, 2015 — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Local seafood joints say they won’t feel pinched when McDonald’s brings back its lobster roll Saturday.

“I’m not too worried” about losing customers, said Kaleb Brown, manager of Brown’s Lobster Pound in Seabrook. “Their taste buds will be able to tell the difference.”

McDonald’s announced Monday the return of its lobster roll after a 10-year hiatus.

The burger chain said its seafood offering will contain “100 percent real North Atlantic lobster and mayonnaise dressing layered on a bed of crisp leaf and shredded lettuce served on a homestyle toasted roll.”

Nicole Garvey, the McDonald’s Boston region spokesman, said “the previous recipe and amount of lobster included differ from what we are offering this summer.”

The lobster meat will get shipped frozen to restaurants “for optimal freshness,” she said. The lobster roll will contain 290 calories and sell for $7.99.

Read the full story at the New Hampshire Union-Leader