Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer from Bloomberg Radio. Well,
Speaker 1: I've had my first lobster of the season, courtesy of
Speaker 1: No in Connecticut and Costello's Clamshack. It was pretty amazing
Speaker 1: clams and lobsters they sell there. But I gotta say
Speaker 1: when I think of lobster, I definitely think of Maine,
Speaker 1: which accounts for nearly all of America's total lobster harvest.
Speaker 1: It's roughly a half a billion dollar year industry for
Speaker 1: the state of Maine. So here with how the business
Speaker 1: is going, how the season is shaping Applet's head to
Speaker 1: Maine and to Mark Merrell. He is the founder and
Speaker 1: CEO of Get Maine Lobster. It's seven online delivery service
Speaker 1: of lobsters and more. They've been doing it for several decades.
Speaker 1: And he joins us on the phone from Portland's Maine. Mark,
Speaker 1: nice to have you here. How are you doing great?
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me. Well, I'm jealous. It's one of
Speaker 1: the most beautiful states in the country. Um. First of all,
Speaker 1: before we look forward, I want to look back a
Speaker 1: little bit. Tell me about the past year and what
Speaker 1: it was like for you guys. It was it was
Speaker 1: pretty wild. Um, you know, demand spikes for services like ours.
Speaker 1: It felt like it felt like overnight. It wasn't a
Speaker 1: little gradual. Um, but you know, sourcing and supply chain,
Speaker 1: the stress on set up tops, box materials. It was
Speaker 1: interesting all these things emerged that impact the ability to
Speaker 1: move a good like lobster to say, you know, your
Speaker 1: house and New York or someone in Los Angeles, and um,
Speaker 1: we had the benefit of you know, food service and
Speaker 1: casinos and cruise ships. Right, they were no longer big
Speaker 1: lobster customers. So we had plenty of lobster available for
Speaker 1: quite a long time, for you know, a good eight
Speaker 1: ten months. We didn't have to fight for sourcing. Um,
Speaker 1: that's changed today. But well that's an interesting Well initially,
Speaker 1: you know, it's interesting, you know, Mark, we talked to
Speaker 1: a lot of folks and they say, you know, initially
Speaker 1: we thought our business we were doomed. Was it like
Speaker 1: that for you guys initially or was it No? People
Speaker 1: were saying okay, because they quickly moved online. They just
Speaker 1: were ordering more and more. Which one was it? So
Speaker 1: my financial advisors said, hey, we have to have the talk.
Speaker 1: You need to get prepared just in case and they said, yes,
Speaker 1: that would be the responsible thing for us to do.
Speaker 1: Let's do that. I said, However, what I'm noticing is
Speaker 1: higher than normal velocity with orders, and so I think
Speaker 1: we're going to have the opposite effect. You know, we did.
Speaker 1: We grew. It's pretty wild. That is crazy. Wow. During
Speaker 1: the pandemic um and as you said, like so many
Speaker 1: of us and so many companies, big, small, middle size
Speaker 1: just kind of being able to tap the supply chain
Speaker 1: that they needed. Um. And that's even with as you said,
Speaker 1: the cruise industry, right, they were they weren't there anymore, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they're no longer customers. So think about a large purveyor
Speaker 1: and they have stocked in their freezers that are you know,
Speaker 1: the size of small homes, and they're preparing to release
Speaker 1: that you know in the off season. Well all of
Speaker 1: their customers left overnight, so they were freaking out. Um.
Speaker 1: But then there was companies like mine that said, hey,
Speaker 1: I need to fill my freezer, Can I take yours?
Speaker 1: And then so so it shifted right and and that
Speaker 1: was great. And plus you know some of them you know,
Speaker 1: turned around and thirty days later they were filling online
Speaker 1: as well. So good for them. For being able to pivot.
Speaker 1: So we were ahead. I was just to say, you know,
Speaker 1: we were designed perfectly for an instant So what are
Speaker 1: you seeing right now? Demand is still very very high. However,
Speaker 1: supply is extremely low. Um. Example, it's Father's Day weekend.
Speaker 1: We sold a lot of lobster roal kids, and I
Speaker 1: did not procure the last of my lobster meat until
Speaker 1: four o'clock last night. That's just in time, just in
Speaker 1: times down to the second. Well, we were actually prepared
Speaker 1: to note we have an email in queue notify people
Speaker 1: that we're gonna have to delay their order a day.
Speaker 1: And you know the catch has been low. Um, that's
Speaker 1: typical this time of year. There's less traps in the
Speaker 1: water here in Maine. Um, I think they're waiting until um,
Speaker 1: you know, the lobster's get a little bit closer to shore.
Speaker 1: You know, they're migrating right now, head into you know,
Speaker 1: cooler waters, better environment for them to begin to shed
Speaker 1: their shell and them. So, yeah, it's an interesting time.
Speaker 1: It's sourcing is very very difficult. We don't have access
Speaker 1: to the what I call hero products you know that
Speaker 1: people love, you know, larger tales and things like that.
Speaker 1: You want to get back to Mark Merrel. He is
Speaker 1: founder and CEO of Get Main Lobster. It's a seven
Speaker 1: online delivery service of lobsters and more, delivering seafood from
Speaker 1: docks to doorsteps in twenty four hours. They've been doing
Speaker 1: it for several decades. Mark still with us on the
Speaker 1: phone and portly made. So okay, as you said, the
Speaker 1: catch is low this time of year, supply is very low.
Speaker 1: So how much is my lobster going to cost me? Uh?
Speaker 1: It's I've never seen it this high this time of year.
Speaker 1: And you know, really the live lobster isn't too crazy,
Speaker 1: but you know, it's when you converted into lobster meat,
Speaker 1: you know. I'm sure he saw in the New York
Speaker 1: Times thirty four dollar lobster roll. I mean that's real
Speaker 1: and uh wow. Um. The interesting thing though, is, you
Speaker 1: know consumers are are being understanding and they really want lobster.
Speaker 1: Demands still really high. Um, you know, so I won't
Speaker 1: see the price moving much unless catch increases dramatically, which
Speaker 1: it is supposed to. Um. Even then, I don't know
Speaker 1: if they'll be a drastic drop or not. I haven't
Speaker 1: seen anything like this before. It's interesting. It is interesting. Well,
Speaker 1: tell me a little about because you guys, I know,
Speaker 1: think about and are involved with sustainable fisheries in terms
Speaker 1: of getting your seafood. I think we just take mark
Speaker 1: for granted that fish or lobsters or shrimp or scallops
Speaker 1: or whatever. Oysters. Um. I spend time in the Long
Speaker 1: Island Sound, so I see the lobster traps. You know
Speaker 1: we have to dodge them. Um. You go a little
Speaker 1: bit further app by Fisher's Island, you see um or
Speaker 1: off of Oyster Bay, you see the oyster traps. What's
Speaker 1: involved in in farming when it comes to fish specifically,
Speaker 1: and how do you do it in a in a
Speaker 1: healthy way? Is sustainable way? Um? Well, it's it relates
Speaker 1: to lobster and the we can't catch anything that's blow
Speaker 1: point nine pounds, nothing above four. And if we catch
Speaker 1: our pregnant female, we mark them by cutting a v
Speaker 1: notch and one of their chins, and then we put
Speaker 1: her back in right, and she's going to help breed
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of more lobsters. And everything's still done
Speaker 1: by hands. And lobstermen are independent. They're very much committed
Speaker 1: and have been since the industry started with sustainability. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's a huge markets remain right, we need to keep
Speaker 1: it going. In the same thing with main scuts, right,
Speaker 1: the season is not very long. Um We're always very
Speaker 1: thoughtful about any kind of species that we're fishing to
Speaker 1: make sure that it's not over. Fish has plenty of
Speaker 1: time to recoup. You know, consider seafood industry FEA. Food
Speaker 1: consumption is increased dramatically in the last two so you know,
Speaker 1: we really have to as consumers, we really should be
Speaker 1: thinking about diversifying a palette. Uh, not just focusing in
Speaker 1: one particular species extent your favorite. You know, venture out,
Speaker 1: try some new things. Restaurants are always bringing new things
Speaker 1: to market. We just started selling um um a trout
Speaker 1: that comes out of Upstate New York and steelhead trout
Speaker 1: and it's a beautiful farmed, clean fish and organic feed
Speaker 1: and everything. It's it's a beautiful fish. And we're always listening. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, we talk a lot about food on this
Speaker 1: broadcast and on air specifically, and we talk a lot
Speaker 1: about sustainable farming generally and kind of feeding the world.
Speaker 1: What's and also about innovation within the food space. What's
Speaker 1: the innovation in your space or is it, you know,
Speaker 1: the way you gather it's very similar to how it
Speaker 1: was done ten years ago, twenty years ago, fifty years ago.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I think the innovation lies with how can
Speaker 1: us consumers are evolving in we feel busier. I don't
Speaker 1: know if we are, but we feel busier. Right. So, um,
Speaker 1: my particular business, we're focused on ready to ready to heat.
Speaker 1: So how can I design because the technology is there?
Speaker 1: Restaurant five star quality meals that are flash frozen, twider
Speaker 1: to your door, stuff, put them in the oven. Twenty
Speaker 1: minutes later you're having this amazing meal and like a
Speaker 1: lobster risotto with the tarragon butter, you know, or sounds good,
Speaker 1: you know. We yeah, we put together at Topino and
Speaker 1: uh send everybody the ingredients and I had to do
Speaker 1: a little bit of work. But you know, we have
Speaker 1: a lot of home chefs now because of last year,
Speaker 1: so it's kind of neat being able to get more creative.
Speaker 1: The demand is there. Well, it's interesting to what you
Speaker 1: said that how people have to kind of expand their
Speaker 1: palette and one of the things that's enabled people to
Speaker 1: kind of go in a completely different different places all
Speaker 1: of the plant based food and there's plant based shrimp.
Speaker 1: We're seeing it go into the seafood market as well.
Speaker 1: What do you think about that? Yeah, you know, it's
Speaker 1: funny you mentioned that because it's part of our expansion
Speaker 1: plant is to get into you know, more plant and land. Right.
Speaker 1: We want to be able to serve anyone and everyone
Speaker 1: based upon their dietary preferences. Were even coming out with
Speaker 1: a new summer box that includes some vegan burgers. But
Speaker 1: as it relates to designing, you know, vegan shrimp and
Speaker 1: vegan tuna and even it's crazy stuff that's going in
Speaker 1: the labs where they're building a chicken breast from nothing. Um,
Speaker 1: that one's peculiar to me. I don't know how people
Speaker 1: are going to feel about it, but plant based is
Speaker 1: a big thing, and we should be designing the flavors
Speaker 1: that people love so that they can feel like they're
Speaker 1: not missing out. Right, it's a big thing, and am
Speaker 1: I missing out if I become plant based? And um,
Speaker 1: it's kind of neat that people can engineer flavors, uh
Speaker 1: and textures for those people. So I'm all about it. Well,
Speaker 1: I love to hear that. Um, we've just got about
Speaker 1: forty fifty seconds left here, what kind of summer do
Speaker 1: you think it's going to be when it comes to sales,
Speaker 1: when all of a said and done as quickly. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm confidence gonna be great. I'm excited that. Um, the
Speaker 1: local main businesses are going to be very very busy
Speaker 1: this summer, So that's exciting. UM And I know that
Speaker 1: people are gonna want me to ship them some lobsters,
Speaker 1: and you know, we love that. I think the catch
Speaker 1: is going to increase. I think we're a couple. We're
Speaker 1: delayed by a couple of weeks and slowly but surely
Speaker 1: everything will kind of get back to normal. You know,
Speaker 1: the price may or may not change. Some people are
Speaker 1: telling me it's not going to change. Some people are saying, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's going to go down. So you know, we just
Speaker 1: kind of watch and we try to, you know, create
Speaker 1: value and be transparent. All right. Well, I gotta love
Speaker 1: love some of your boxes and your your combinations on
Speaker 1: your website. Marks, so nice to talk with you. Have
Speaker 1: a good season. Mark Morral, founder and CEO of Get
Speaker 1: Main Lapster lop Stuff. That's what I said. Joining us
Speaker 1: from Portland, Maine,