WISCASSET, Maine — How popular, exactly, are lobster rolls at Red’s Eats in Wiscasset?
“The lobster roll is our signature sandwich,” owner Deb Gagnon said.
It's also the most popular item on the menu, she said, and a big driver for local lobster dealers.
“[We sold] 14.5 tons in six months and 2.5 tons of butter,” Gagnon said, describing the quantities the take-out restaurant consumed in 2019 before COVID hit.
Last year saw record-high summer lobster prices, and 2022 is starting out with prices roughly at the same level.
Gagnon said demand for lobster rolls was seemingly unaffected in 2021. So far, in 2022, customers are lining up as usual to order the famous sandwiches.
“High prices on anything are always a worry for me. I want to give the best product I can, and I won’t compromise,” she said.
At Atlantic Edge Lobster in Boothbay Harbor, which provides some of the meat Red’s uses, the boat price for whole lobster is currently about $7.50 per pound, Kristin Page, co-owner of the business, said.
Picked lobster meat, which restaurants typically buy, costs much more. She said it takes four or five lobsters to get a pound of meat. Prices are set by the larger state and even the national marketplace.
“Supply and demand,” Nick Page, the other co-owner of Atlantic Edge Lobster, said.
Both said they and many restaurants worried about the state of last season when lobster prices were high, but customers were undeterred.
“Business never slowed down. It continued,” Nick Page said, “July and August were crazy last year. [We] couldn’t keep up with demand.”
The Pages said they believe demand will be similar to last year.
Gagnon said the menu is at the mercy of market prices.
“And it's not just lobster. It's all seafood … fresh clams, fresh crabmeat, the haddock. Everything’s gone up,” Gagnon said.
She said the price hikes go beyond the food.
“Even my eco-friendly to-go boxes went from 27 cents to 77 cents apiece,” Gagnon said.
Is there a tipping point where high prices will begin to affect sales?
Gagnon said she and other restaurant people wonder about that, but no one has an answer.
And they all agreed that on the coast of Maine in summer, people want lobster, even when prices are high.
One customer may have settled the debate at Red’s.
Jordan Kelly and a companion were sharing a large lobster roll on a table on the restaurant’s deck. Kelly said they drove up from New Hampshire for the weekend and made a point to stop at Red’s for lunch.
When asked if the lobster roll was worth the price, Kelly didn't hesitate.
“Absolutely, all day long.”