How We Bring You the Best Lobster Tails: A Trip to Stonington, Maine

We were back in Stonington, Maine last week. We make the trip up the coast on a regular basis, and not for the scenery, though the harbor never disappoints. We go to spend time on the docks with the captains who supply our lobster, walk the floor of the plant that processes it, and put our own eyes on the product line we stand behind. These are relationships we have built over years, and staying close to them is how we keep the quality where it needs to be.

Here is what one of these visits looks like, and why it matters for what shows up in your box.

Why Maine

People assume lobster is lobster. It is not. The cold, clean, high-salinity water off the Maine coast grows a sweeter, firmer, more tender tail than you will find almost anywhere else. Plenty of tails on the market are cold-water tails. Far fewer are genuine Maine tails. That is why we source here, and why we keep going back to the same partners instead of chasing the cheapest supply.

It comes down to relationships

We are a Maryland crab company, and we have been selling seafood online since 1996, longer than anyone in the business. One thing three decades has taught us is that the product is only as good as the people behind it. We have worked with the same captains and the same processor up here for a long time. The boats were coming in while we were there, so we did what we always do. We shook hands, talked through the season, and looked at the catch together. Showing up in person is how a relationship like this stays strong.

Checked, then checked again

By the time a Maine lobster becomes one of our tails, it has been quality checked at least three separate times. We know the routine because we watch it run every time we are up here.

• On the boat. The crew sorts as they haul, keeping the good ones and sending the rest back over the side.
• At the dock. When the catch is handed off, it is inspected again before it ever leaves the waterfront.
• At the plant. When the lobsters reach the processing facility up the coast in Bucksport, they are graded one more time. Anything that does not make the mark is pulled out, and only the strongest, fullest lobsters move on.

Inside the plant

We walk the plant floor on every visit. It starts with lobster that came in the same day it was landed, still at peak freshness. The first step is a piece of equipment most shoppers never see, called HPP, or high pressure processing. It uses water pressure many times greater than the deepest part of the ocean, and it does three jobs at once. It harvests the lobster humanely with pressure alone, no heat and no chemicals. It knocks out bacteria. And it loosens the meat cleanly from the shell.

The lobster tails we ship today

Right now, Maine lobster tails are the product we carry, and they are finished in this same plant. The flow is fast, and that is the whole point. The lobster is landed the same day at peak freshness, run through the HPP tunnel to remove bacteria, and then the tail is taken off and blast frozen right on the spot. Freezing it that quickly, at the source, locks in the fresh-caught quality, so the tail you cook at home is as good as the day it came out of the water. This is premium, world-class lobster.

Up next: Premium lobster meat

These visits are also how we plan what is next. We are adding lobster meat soon, including claw and knuckle meat and tail meat. Some of it will ship fresh cooked, and that fresh cooked meat gets an extra layer of care. It runs back through the HPP process a second time to fully eliminate bacteria, and then every lot is sampled and held until a lab confirms it is clean before any of it ships. That is what gives the fresh cooked meat a true fourteen-day fresh shelf life.

To be clear, that lab hold is specific to the fresh cooked meat. The raw frozen products, including the tails we ship today, do not go through it. Across the whole floor, everyone works in full protective gear and the operation runs to a strict FDA process.

This is what "best" actually takes

Anyone can print the word premium on a label. We would rather be on the dock and the plant floor ourselves, checking the product line we put our name on. Our Maine lobster tails come from partners we have worked with for years, get checked three times before they are ever processed, and are frozen at the source at peak freshness. That is why we can stand behind them with our Best Seafood, Best Price guarantee.

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Photography and video by Opulux Designs.