As a vertically-integrated seafood and restaurant company, and the highest scoring Certified B Corp in both categories, Luke’s Lobster is committed to being a force for environmental and social good. Living up to this commitment starts with measuring our impact, setting goals to improve, pursuing clear strategies to achieve those goals, and reporting successes and failures transparently.
2022 Impact Report
Climate Change
In September of 2022, we completed the massive undertaking of measuring the carbon footprint of our entire lobster supply chain--the first time this has ever been measured in the lobster industry. And we committed not just to measuring it once, but to update that measurement to be more accurate every year.
🦞 Our initial report, looking at 2021 numbers, showed 2.89 pounds of Greenhouse Gas emissions for every pound of live lobster in our supply chain. In 2022 we shrank that number to 2.61 pounds by making carbon friendly improvements, including an entire year purchasing green energy for our shacks, and sourcing more of our bait closer to where it's used on the Maine coast.
🦞 Conventional beef generates about 60 pounds of emissions for every pound of beef we eat. So in 2022, every time you ate a pound of Luke's Lobster, you emitted 57 lbs fewer greenhouse gases than if you were eating hamburgers.
🦞 We purchased over 2 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy for our shacks and production facility. By doing so, we reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by over 250 metric tons.
🦞 We offset another 340.6 metric tons of emissions by buying certiified offsets for 100% of our UPS shipping to customers and to our shacks.
🦞 There's no better renewable energy than what you produce right where you use it. In September, we installed solar panels in the bright sunlight of our Portland Pier restaurant and buy station, and in three months the panels generated 3000 kwh of energy to power those operations.
In 2023 we will...
🦞 Continue to hone the accuracy of our model. We aim to further decrease our footprint, but also acknowledge that with room for improvement in the accuracy and scope of our footprint model, we may uncover additional emissions, and we'll report those transparently.
🦞 Continue to replace more conventional energy with green energy as we open new shacks where we control the electricity bill.
🦞 Continue to offset 100% of these emissions in 2023.
🦞 Expect to generate 14,500 kwh of energy with a full year of sun to absorb in 2023.
Waste Management
We continue to commit to keeping the parts of our lobster that are typically thrown away out of landfills. In 2022 we upcycled 546,883 lbs of lobster shell, body meat, leg meat, and blood into everything from restaurant and grocery dishes to skincare products to fertilizer.
🦞 That represents nearly 12% of the weight of the live lobster that we've diverted from landfill.
🦞 Our compostables were .018 ounces per dollar of company revenue. We know that this ratio needs to shift until all our disposables are compostable.
🦞 We're beginning the transformation of our waste hauling to make sure organic waste from our shacks becomes valuable compost. This year 4 of our shacks were actively composting.
🦞In an effort to monitor and reduce our use of disposable goods, we started measuring and found that we used .61 ounces of disposables for every dollar of revenue in our shacks.
🦞 While it's better to use no disposables at all, we know that those made of or lined with plastic that won't decompose are worse than those that are compostable, so we're breaking the total weight down into those categories as we seek to move away from non-compostables and to compostables. In 2022, the non compostable weight was .045 oz per dollar of company revenue.
🦞 The last measure we take of our disposable use is our spend on disposables per revenue dollar. Why? Because it's important to celebrate the monetary savings that come with reducing waste! This year we spent 1.4 cents on disposables for every dollar the company brought in in sales.
In 2023 we will...
🦞 Continue to find more and better uses for these byproducts and aim to increase the percentage of total weight that goes into them in 2023.
🦞 Have introduced new compostable utensils this year and to be introducing new compostable soup cups, clamshell containers and more next year, so we'll aim to increase our ounces per dollar of compostables while decreasing that of noncompostables.
🦞 Add two more composting shacks, and position for a larger conversion in 2025.
🦞 We will be replacing many of the disposables we use for dine-in orders, such as soup cups and utensils, with reusable ceramic and metal. By doing so, we aim to get below .6 oz of disposables per dollar.
🦞 Next year, we will shrink that number and prove that caring for the planet and reducing waste can help the bottom line, which helps our company grow.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Through our monthly Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee meetings, we've learned a lot about the challenges that folks from marginalized backgrounds face in our industry, even in our company. So in 2022, we implemented mandatory DEI training for all of our managers to ensure they create a space for team members to show up and thrive as their authentic selves, and to be treated equitably.
🦞 One group of our team members that we know face unique challenges is those for whom English is not their first language. To support these team members, we introduced free English language courses through our micro-learning partner, OPUS. This allows our team to access coursework on their phones when and where it's convenient for them.
🦞 We recognize that founders like Luke and Ben from advantaged backgrounds often have more access to resources and fewer obstacles than women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and others from marginalized backgrounds. So supporting business in our supply chain owned by folks from marginalized groups is an important commitment to a healthy community. In 2022, we worked with 16 of these companies, including OmSom, Passamaquoddy Wild Blueberry Company, and Real Mother Shuckers.
🦞 Four amazing BIPOC students joined us to launch our Lift All Boats program, to overcome barriers to entry in the lobster industry that have made it difficult for industry outsiders and people of color to become commercial lobstermen. We bought a boat (F/V Sea Smoke), traps, rope, took students fishing weekly, bought their catch at our Portland wharf, helped complete their paperwork, and introduced them to active fishermen for future jobs on their way to running their own business
🦞 Joshua, Christian, Justin, and Mogga, our Lift All Boats class of 2022, logged a total of 160 hours on the water learning to lobster.
In 2023 we will...
🦞 Build more resources to create an culture where everyone feels they belong: unconscious bias training to help us recognize and remove bias from our decision making processes, and quarterly learning sessions to build empathy for folks from marginalized groups in our company and our community.
🦞 Build an on-site language lab so that our teammates have access to live instructors for ESOL classes for themselves and their families at no cost to them.
🦞 Keep working with these entrepreneurs from marginalized backgrounds and add at least two more.
🦞 Expand Lift All Boats to serve 12 students, and offer over 500 hours of lobstering and learning.
Growth and Promotions
As a restaurant company in 2020-21, we were struggling to survive a pandemic. In 2022, we were finally able to get back to growing, opening our newest shack in Grand Central Terminal in July!
🦞 We also expanded our grocery business, launching our lobster cake bites as a delicious app, and pre-split lobster tails with roasted garlic butter, which make an often tricky-to-cook item a breeze for a weeknight meal.
🦞 We hit two new major grocery chains: Sprouts and New Seasons Market.
🦞 Most importantly, we grew and better supported our team: We expanded our health insurance, universal paid sick time, bereavement leave, and parental care benefits, and we promoted 11 Luke’s teammates internally: Heather, Champa, Sabrina, Cassandra, JP, Meaghan, Johnny, Mark, Ali, Noelia, and Jared, thank you for choosing to grow your careers here!
In 2023 we will...
🦞 Open our first shack in Seattle on Pike Street this spring!
🦞 Aim to promote twice as many people in 2023 and to continue to find ways to better support their professional and personal needs.