AMERICAN LOBSTER IN THE ASIAN CENTURY continued from Home Page

The Maine Lobster Promotion Council makes trade mission trips, prints publications and does internet marketing to get information out about Maine companies. Last year immediately after their Asian mission their website traffic from China was up 150%. The site is translated into 6 languages. English is good in Europe and Hong Kong, but translation is needed in Asia. ©Photo by Sam Murfitt

Dave Madden is with The Lobster Trap, a company based in Massachusetts with buying stations in Machaisport and Stueben, Maine. He’s been at the show since his company started 29 years ago. They ship live lobster to supermarkets and restaurant chains nationally. Of the show he said, “we see more people we know than people we don’t know.” It’s a good place to see your customers under one roof at the same time, and they want to see who is behind the lobsters they buy.”

Madden noted the larger number of Asian companies this year saying most are there to sell, but many Chinese companies were looking at American lobster and asking questions. Three years ago his company shipped about 20 boxes of lobster to China, last year they ship about 20,000 lbs. The Canadian government has paid reps to go China to promote lobster. Madden expects a positive change in shipments to China based on duty changes there and new harvest limits placed on Australian spiny lobster, which has sold well in China.

A great part of the show is sampling the best of what these companies from around the world offer. Smoked salmon, farmed and wild, to lobster pizza and lobster bisque, sushi, raw bluefin tuna, to raw oysters individually shucked for your sampling, it’s all seafood all the time.

Stefanie Nadeau at The Lobster Company in Kennebunkport, Maine said it was their third year at the IBSS. They sell live lobster internationally to Europe, Japan and Hong Kong. The Lobster Company also goes to the Hong Kong Seafood Show and the China Seafood Show in Dalain, China. “We have had tremendous interest from China” she said. “The Chinese currently lack infrastructure on the ground – tanks, freezers and a delivery system.” But she thought it only a matter of time before that changes. She cited the near doubling in the price of local rock crabs as a result of Chinese market interest.

Dane Somers of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council said the cold chain logistics in China needs improvement. The Chinese see frozen seafood as inferior. They think only deteriorated fish gets frozen. However, in the “last 2 years the live to frozen ratio has gone from 90/10 to 75/25. This is a result of our showing them we fresh freeze a high quality product,” Somers said.

“Transporting live lobster is at the extreme edge of seafood shipping. The Chinese supply chain infrastructure there is not currently designed for cold water seafood,” he said. But their bringing this up to western standards is likely given “the encouragement of imports by the Agricultural Trade office in Bejing,” said Somers.

Eastern Fisheries is a major fishing and seafood company based in New Bedford, MA. From far right: Roy Enoksen, founder and owner, center: chef at the show, and left: Roy’s son Ron Enoksen. ©Photo by Sam Murfitt

The Local Ocean is a New York company that raises finfish on land in salt water. Clean Fish is California company that contracts with small scale aquaculture producers around the world to raise finfish using what the company considers sustainable practices.

The sustainability and clean waters of the Maine lobster fishery are big selling points in the Chinese markets said Somers. Rising incomes in China has driven demand for luxury food and Maine lobster is seen as a high quality product. He said the Chinese feel secure in buying US seafood because of environmental protections and the harvester information that is available.

John Jordan, Chebeague Island lobsterman and CEO of Calendar Islands Maine Lobster company said the company was just getting placement in major outlets that include Hannaford Bros., Roche Bros. and Stew Leonard’s.

This was all in the last two months after their first year at IBSS. But Jordan and his fishermen partners have been at this awhile. Eight years ago they started Dropping Springs Bait Company. They were doing volume live lobster to middlemen and processors. The lobster market crashed a few years ago and they had to reassess their position. They realized they needed to brand and differentiate with a prepared product. Others got involved and now about 30 fishermen are part of the company. “We wanted to move as far away from commodity as possible and put lobster where it hasn’t been. We want to be open to a diverse range of sales segments. One target is frozen foods with a 12 month presence,” Jordan said.

The Lobster Trap has locations in Machaisport and Stueben, ME. “China seems more ready to break into buying U.S. seafood. Duty changes in China and restrictions on Austrailian spiny lobster are clues.” – Dave Madden. Their shipments to China have risen dramatically. ©Photo by Sam Murfitt

We “wrote a business plan for Calendar Islands and brought in capital, since it takes money to differentiate,” said Jordan. They discovered they needed to reach out beyond their group to assemble the components of the business they were building. They networked bringing in investors, food critics, experienced kitchens, people with experience in branding, packaging and finance. “The most fun has been getting people together,” he said, and cited the unlikely combination of fishermen and foodies.

Marketing to the world based on commodity price could not work for lobstermen Jordan said. Lobster needs to be treated as a valuable product. Getting beyond the boat price has long been a difficult stumbling block for lobstermen. “The steps to a better price are transparent in the ownership of the process,” said Jordan. “We are trying to support the future of our lives, because we live by lobsters.”