News

Case Study: Making Lobster Affordable… and Profitable

Kraft Foods |
November 11, 2010

Four years ago, Linda Bean, granddaughter of famed L.L. Bean, bought a house overlooking a Maine harbor, rugged and beautiful, anchored by a vista of iconic lobster boats. With the house came a lobster wharf and a lobster pound, and so Bean rather suddenly entered the lobster business as a wholesale buyer and dealer. She took to it like a duck to water, and has since added two more lobster wharves, a live lobster overnight shipping facility, a seafood-processing plant and an emerging lobster frozen-food line, plus nine foodservice operations (so far). And along the way, Bean has become a champion of the lobster industry, initiating international certification of Maine lobster by the Marine Stewardship Council, a U.K.-based organization that promotes sustainability. Continue reading →

Local Love: Lobster Rolls @ Linda Bean’s in Delray Beach!!

Blind Tastes | Steve BM
June 12, 2010

I am originally from Boston and summer in Gloucester and Rockport every year where my family has a clam & lobster bake. I know my lobster rolls and have eaten thousands of them. I was in Delray for a wedding last weekend and was driving down Atlantic Blvd when I saw a sign for Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine Lobster Roll on Atlantic. We were starving so we stopped to grab a lobster roll. It was expensive, yes ($15.50 for 1/4lb lobster roll w/ chips, sweet pickles, and slaw), but absolutely phenomenal and the best lobster roll I have tasted outside of New England. Continue reading →

Lobster’s New Champion

Zester Daily | Nancy Harmon Jenkins
December 24, 2009

Lobstering never figured in Linda Bean’s life plan. She got into the business fortuitously, rather late in life and through the back door. The granddaughter of L.L. Bean, founder of the renowned Freeport, Maine, sporting goods emporium, she sits on the board of the her grandfather’s company, enjoying the wealth and power that come with the connection. Her extremely conservative views are well known. She ran for Congress some years back but was defeated overwhelmingly. Twice.

But lobstering? Continue reading →

L.L. Bean heiress aims to franchise Maine lobster

examiner | Linda Hersey
November 23, 2009

Can the L.L. Bean catalog heiress buoy Maine’s flagging lobster industry?

Linda Bean, granddaughter of L.L. Bean’s founder, aims to franchise restaurants across the U.S. that will serve tasty lobster rolls, with the main ingredient coming from fishing wharves she runs along the Maine coast. Continue reading →

Can the lobster roll really save the lobster industry

Portland Daily Sun | Curtis Robinson
September 27, 2009

Thinking big, Linda Bean wants lobster rolls to be the next big thing Could the delicate culinary alchemy known as “lobster roll” help save lobstering?

That might be a bit dramatic — it could be the lobster industry doesn’t really need salvation — but the push by Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine Lobster Roll illustrates a good idea. Her concept is to improve the already strong “brand” of Maine lobster, but also to move the lobster roll into the sandwich big leagues with the likes of the hamburger and hot dog. Her website lists the lobster roll as America’s next great sandwich. This is not entirely new — McDonald’s, after all, has offered McLobster rolls, although the home of the clown used mostly Canadian lobster and, also, the sandwich kinda sucked. (Although it’s worth noting, on the quality scale, that you wouldn’t confuse the Big Mac with a Front Room burger, yet the Golden Arches stays in business.) Continue reading →

Linda Bean rolls out her lobster franchise

The Boston Globe | Peter Smith, Fred Field
July 1, 2009

FREEPORT, Maine – Down the street from a giant L.L. Bean duck boot parked outside the iconic retailer’s flagship store are parking lots crammed with outlet shoppers, a Rotary Hot Dog Stand, Ben & Jerry’s, and Li’s Chinese Xpress.

With summer’s throngs of visitors, you might miss a tiny lobster kiosk with a green awning at the corner of Main and Morse if it weren’t for the striking name: Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine Lobster Roll. A buttered and toasted hot dog bun, filled with four ounces of local lobster meat tossed with salt and a hint of mayo, comes with crunchy bread-and-butter pickles and crisp kettle chips. The cost is $16. Continue reading →

Record roll tops 61 feet

Portland Press Herald | Ann S. Kim, Tim Greenway
June 8, 2009

PORTLAND – Mayor Jill Duson studied the yellow measuring tape and the sandwich next to it.

Dane Somers, executive director of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council, agreed with her assessment. The lobster roll before them did indeed appear to be 61 feet, 9½ inches long, more than enough to win a place in Guinness World Records if it’s authenticated. Continue reading →

Maine shows off giant lobster roll

USA Today | Joel Page
June 7, 2009

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — What could be the world’s longest lobster roll turned out to be even longer than expected.
The giant sandwich unveiled Sunday during Maine’s Old Port Festival in Portland measured 61 feet 9.5 inches — more than a foot longer than organizers were aiming for. It also included a few extra pounds of lobster meat — 48 in all, plus four gallons of Miracle Whip and a special blend of herbs and seasonings. Continue reading →

Portland boasts world’s longest lobster roll

NECN |

Portland has a new claim to fame as home of the world’s longest lobster roll. A local roller derby team helped carry the sandwich to Maine’s Old Port Festival. It turned out to be even longer than expected — a record 61 feet, 9.5 inches. It also included a few extra pounds of lobster meat — 48 in all, plus four gallons of Miracle Whip and a special blend of herbs and seasonings. “It’s a great celebration and Maine lobster is the king of the seafood world and we deserve to be in the Guinness book of world records,” Dane Somers said. Once the world-record was confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records, the sandwich was cut into sections and sold to raise money for a youth association.