Red Lobster, the well-known casual dining seafood company, does not have any restaurants in Maine, having shut down its two branches in the state in the late 1990s.
But it still has a presence here as a significant buyer of Maine lobster, which it promotes on its menus across the country and around the globe.
That role is not expected to change soon, even though Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy last week. The petition was filed in court days after the company shut down more than 50 restaurants out of 500-plus it operates nationwide.
“It’s a fairly small percentage of their stores closing,” Marianna LaCroix, executive director of the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, said.
LaCroix said she doesn’t know how much Maine lobster the company buys, as dealers typically keep their sales volumes private. But she called it “a big buyer.”
The remaining restaurants are expected to continue to operate through the bankruptcy proceeding, which is intended to simplify operations, close locations and pursue a sale. As part of the filing, Red Lobster entered into a “stalking horse” agreement, meaning it plans to sell its business to an entity formed and controlled by its lenders.
Red Lobster said in the court filing that it has more than 100,000 creditors and estimated assets between $1 billion and $10 billion. The company’s estimated liabilities are between $1 billion and $10 billion.
LaCroix said that in addition to buying Maine lobster, Red Lobster has helped promote the fishery. It repeatedly lists “Maine lobster” among its menu items, though it also lists “Caribbean rock” lobster on several dishes.
“They are very good about their product labeling,” LaCroix said. “They do a nice job promoting Maine lobster and its sustainability.”
In 2018, the company produced a video of Harrington resident and lobsterman Heather Thompson and her family to highlight how the fishery sustains the population.
Maine’s lobster industry has had mixed success with third-party sustainability certifications, with some entities giving Maine fishermen credit for protecting breeding females and not overfishing, while other groups have criticized the industry because of the whale entanglement threat posed by gear. Despite criticisms, Red Lobster says all of its menu items — Maine lobster included — are traceable and sourced sustainably and responsibly.
The company closed its two restaurants in Maine — in Auburn and Bangor — in 1998 after realizing that it could not compete in a state where fresh lobster is easily found at hundreds of pounds and restaurants.
But it has continued to openly cite Maine and Bar Harbor as inspirations, with a company official once calling the state “our spiritual home.”
Red Lobster also helps fund fishery research in the Gulf of Maine.
“We proudly support University of Maine’s collaborative research with the lobster industry to improve understanding of how the lobster’s earliest life stages respond to changes in the environment and the implications of those changes for the future of the fishery,” the company says on its website.
Red Lobster was founded in 1968 by Bill Darden, when he opened the first location in Orlando, Florida. After he later sold the business to General Mills, the restaurant chain was spun off and, in 2014, sold to a private equity firm. Thai Union Group, one of the world’s largest seafood suppliers, first invested in Red Lobster in 2016 and upped its stake in 2020.
The chain has struggled in recent decades as it has faced increased competition from faster, cheaper chains like Chipotle and Panera, and lingering effects from the COVID-19 pandemic. The company said in court filings that its annual guest counts were down 30 percent from 2019. It lost $76 million in 2023, in large part from its “Ultimate Endless Shrimp” promotion, which charged $20 for an all-you-can-eat shrimp deal.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
