P r o f i l e s i n e x c e l l e n c e M a i n e — A P h oto P o rt r A i t o f t h e P i n e t r ee S tAt e
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her live lobsters, shipped to 2,000 U.S. chain grocery
stores. In today's world of savvy shoppers and diners,
consumers want to know where their seafood comes
from, and Bean decided that any lobsters with her
name on them would come only from boats licensed
by the state of Maine. She firmly stands her ground to
assure buyers that her lobsters are not from Canada
or the Caribbean; they are guaranteed 100% Maine
caught and processed by proud Maine workers.
In 2009, her 26-foot Lobstermobile was sent on
the road to serve Linda's herbed lobster rolls at five
Maine state fairs. She created three of her own cafe
'
s
to serve the herbed lobster roll, one each in Freeport,
Camden, and in Portland's Old Port. Additionally,
Bean outfitted a 90-seat Linda Bean's Perfect Maine
®
Lobster Cafe
'
in Delray Beach, Florida, and licensed
a couple to run her lobster roll takeout business on
Boston's south shore at Nantasket Beach.
In her third year of business in 2010, Linda pur-
chased and integrated two seafood plants totaling
40,000 square feet in Rockland's industrial park to
perform the separation and grading of her lobsters
for weight and shippability, and for the cooking and
freezing of those too soft-shelled to ship.
By eliminating the middleman and cutting extra
costs, she is able to share profits back to fishermen
hard-pressed by low prices, producing a model of
vertical integration that has captured the attention
of at least one U.S. business school. In 2011, Bean and
General Manager John Petersdorf paid $1.9 million
in bonuses over and above the shore price to fisher-
men selling to Bean's wharves.
Top: Linda Bean's
Americanus Wharf on
Vinalhaven Island.
Bottom: Directly across
from the L.L.Bean flagship
store, Linda Bean's Maine
Kitchen & Topside Tavern
is a 240-seat, two-story
family restaurant in
Freeport.
P h o t o B y c . a . s M i t h P h o t o G r a P h y
