The lady and the lobsters

If it were a movie pitch, it would likely be a romantic comedy. But there’s nothing funny about Linda L. Bean’s ideas for mass-marketing lobster. The New York Times profiled Bean, the 68-year-old heiress to the L.L. Bean fortune, and her plans to shake up the Maine lobster industry: 

Her goal, she said, is to save Maine’s most iconic industry by ending its dependence on Canadian processors and, under her Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine label, to mass market Maine lobster the way Perdue does chicken.

Critics suggest that she is destroying the independent spirit of mom-and-pop lobster operations and creating tension with a valued trading partner in Canada. Others see the power of her name and marketing budget as potential boons for the entire industry, which is suffering from rock-bottom prices.