Apr 29, 2019
On episode 76 of Sourcing Matters we welcome CEO & founder of
Luke’s Lobster – Luke Holden. Luke’s Lobster first
opened its doors in the East Village of New York City in 2009.
The company brings traceable, sustainable seafood to guests
across the country. They work directly with fishermen to
hand pick the best seafood, and serve that straight from the
source, prepared pure and simple, without the filler.
They’ve systematically chosen partners who uphold our
commitment to sourcing superior, sustainable ingredients and
strive to support other small businesses, many of which are
based in Maine or local to the cities where they maintain
their Lobsters shacks.
BIO: Luke Holden grew up in Cape Elizabeth, Maine
– a third-generation lobsterman who started learning the trade
at age 13. After attending Georgetown University and beginning
an investment banking career on Wall Street, Luke was remiss
to find that every lobster roll available in New York was
overpriced, drowning in mayo, and diluted with celery. He
craved a real Maine-style roll and simply couldn’t find one.
In the 10 years since launching, Holden and his partners have
worked to vertically integrate the business to insure the
highest quality products with guaranteed integrity and
provenance. Growing up in the industry has afforded Holden a
high level of clout with with the lobsterman, harvesters and
fishermen in Tenants Harbor Maine who source his product. We
learn that the experience and support that Luke’s father
offered from running Maine’s largest lobster processing
facility gave their team at Luke’s Lobsters the insight and
knowhow to launch a processing facility in Saco. This
infrastructure has since expedited growth to now service
30 domestic, and 11 international Shacks, as well as
their wholesale account Whole Foods.
In our 40 minute discussion we learn more about what
this thought-leader is doing to protect his fishery in the
warming waters of the Gulf of Maine. We chat about full
carcass utilization of the lobster, and about the economic
viability of the fishery and its future crop. We discuss
product differentiation, and diversifying the offerings of
both their producers/ harvesters, and of his growing $30mm
business.
TuneIn to hear about the future of the iconic Maine lobster.