DEI in our Supply Chain
We prioritize purchasing ingredients from companies owned by members of underrepresented groups, including BIPOC, women, and LGTBQ+ entrepreneurs
- Harlem Blue - We are proud to offer their 1658 American Wheat Ale in in all of our NYC shack locations.
- Harlem Hops - We sold and donated 100% of sales of their HBCU Homecoming Porter to their scholarship foundation, Harlem Hopes.
- Green Bench Brewing Co. - We partnered with this Black-owned brewery to bring their beers to our guests in Brickell City Centre.
- Speakeasy Ales & Lagers - A San Francisco favorite, we are proud to serve their Big Daddy IPA out of our SoMa location.
- Omsom - We collaborated with this loud and proud, female-owned Asian food brand to bring a Spicy Mala Lobster Roll to our shacks nationwide.
- Tanbark - We are proud to partner with the woman-owned, Maine-based packaging company who manufactures and designs non-plastic packaging solutions.
- Bixby Chocolate - This female-owned chocolate company has been partnering with us to bring Luke's Lobster Online Market customers sweet treats to go with their lobster rolls.
- Passamaquoddy Maine Blueberries - We are proud to serve wild Maine blueberries at our flagship restaurant, Luke's Lobster Portland Pier in Portland, Maine and in our Grand Central Terminal shack that are grown and harvested by the Passamaquoddy tribe.
- Justice of the Pies - In our Chicago City Hall shack, we serve up delicious key lime pies from this female Black-owned bakery based in Chicago.
- Brooklyn Brewery - Serving up cold pints of this New York-based, Black-owned brewery at our Grand Central Terminal shack.
- Talea Beer Co. - This female-owned and founded brewery focuses on easy-drinking beers and appeals to a wider audience than the traditional craft brew scene. We proudly have them on tap at our Grand Central Terminal shack.
- Atlantic Sea Farms - You can find ASF's kelp products in our buttermilk dressing and in our kelp veggie burger at our flagship restaurant, Luke's Lobster Portland Pier in Portland, Maine. We also sold their kelp cubes for a limited-time on Luke's Lobster Online Market.
- True Fin - We have partnered with female-owned, Maine-based True Fin to cut and process some of our Luke's Lobster Online Market fish like Bluefin tuna, monkfish, halibut, and more!
- Two Fat Cats - You can try Two Fat Cats' Maine blueberry pies in our 5-star rated Lobster Roll + Blueberry Pie Pack. Based in Portland, Maine, the bakery is female-owned.
- Liberation Farms - Luke's Lobster Portland Pier sourced tortilla chips that were made from cornmeal from Liberation Farms, a community farming program that works to provide new American farmers access to sustainable food production for themselves, their families, and their communities.
- Daleview Biscuits and Beers - Inspired by the small predominantly Black neighborhood in Columbia, SC where he grew up, chef and brewer Christopher Gandsy brought his Southern roots to Brooklyn, New York. You can find his beer on tap at our FiDi shack.
- Metier Brewing Company - Metier Brewing Company (MBC) is a Seattle-based, purpose-driven, Black-owned craft brewery that believes in representation and the importance of community building.
DEI in our Community
As a lobster company, the vast majority of our money is spent buying lobster, and we acknowledge that the lobster fishery is very male and very white. To overcome the systemic barriers to historically disadvantaged groups in Maine's lobster industry, we've launched the Lift All Boats project, giving young men and women the resources and mentorship they need to build a lucrative career on the water. Beyond our business purchasing, we support community organizations that address systemic prejudice and inequality
- The Barrio Fridge is a network of sidewalk community fridges open 24 hours a day, seven days a week that is stocked with donated food that is available for anyone who needs it.
- SAGE is a national advocacy and services organization that advocates and build communities for LGBTQ+ elders.
- Immigrant History Initiative educates & empowers communities through the untold stories of immigrant diasporas. They focus on Asian American and immigration history.
- Nibezun is a Maine-based organization that works to teach and restore Wabanaki culture.
- Wabanaki Reach supports the self-determination of Wabanaki people through education, storytelling + restorative justice.
The Lift All Boats Project
While there are no laws that exclude historically disadvantaged groups from getting their lobster license, the only way to become a commercial lobsterman is to wait on a decades long wait list or complete a student lobster license program. In 2022 we launched the Lift All Boats Project; a student lobster mentorship program in Portland, Maine. Lift All Boats guides local students through their required lobster licensing hours and gives them access to the gear, knowledge and mentorship from lobstermen and industry professionals that they need to complete their student lobster license—resources typically only available to families of current lobstermen. Learn more about the program here.
Land Acknowledgment
We acknowledge that the land that we occupy today is the traditional, unceded territory of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The lands and waters throughout this state that we call Maine, where the food that we serve at Luke’s Lobster is fished and farmed, is the traditional territory and remains the home of the sovereign peoples of the Confederacy: the Abenaki, Penobscot, Passamaquody, Maliseet, and Mi’kmaq.
We acknowledge that our presence here as non-Indigenous people is due to the forcible removal and genocide of the people of the Wabanaki Confederacy, the intentional erasure of their culture, and the trampling of their territorial rights. The harm of settler colonialism is not in the past; it continues today. At Luke's Lobster, we recognize, support, and advocate for Indigenous individuals and communities. By offering this Land Acknowledgement, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty and will work to hold ourselves more accountable to the needs of Indigenous peoples.
That begins with supporting organizations that speak the truth and work towards equity, healing, and positive change. As a food company, it’s also important to acknowledge the destruction or over-exploitation by colonizers of traditional Wabanaki food sources, such as wild rice, cod, and sea-run fisheries. We believe in the economic sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and their access to culturally appropriate foods, and will continue to support the farms and food businesses they operate on the path to achieving those goals. We are still at the start of a long road towards healing, but we are committed to this path forward.
As a multi-location restaurant group, we also acknowledge that our shacks occupy the traditional, unceded territory of the following nations:
Back Bay - Massa-adchu-es-et (Massachusett) and Pawtucket
Bethesda - Piscataway and Nacotchtank (Anacostan)
Brickell City Centre - Tequesta, Seminole, and Taino
Brooklyn Bridge Park - Canarsie and Munsee Lenape
City Hall - Myaamia, Bodéwadmiakiwen (Potawatomi), Kaskaskia, Peoria, and Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo)
Downtown Crossing - Massa-adchu-es-et (Massachusett) and Pawtucket
Farragut - Piscataway and Nacotchtank (Anacostan)
Fidi - Munsee Lenape
Garment District - Munsee Lenape
Las Vegas - Newe (Western Shoshone), Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute), and Nüwüwü (Chemehuevi)
Midtown East - Munsee Lenape
Penn Quarter - Piscataway and Nacotchtank (Anacostan)
Portland Pier - Abenaki / Abénaquis, Aucocisco, and Wabanaki (Dawnland Confederacy)
Rittenhouse - Lənape Haki-nk (Lenni-Lenape)
Soma - Muwekma, Ohlone, and Ramaytush
Union Square - Munsee Lenape
Upper East Side - Wappinger and Munsee Lenape
Upper West Side - Wappinger and Munsee Lenape
This information was sourced from the Native Land Digital map and does not represent or intend to represent official or legal boundaries of any Indigenous nations. The map is a work in progress with contributions from the community. Please send fixes or questions to Native Land Digital directly if you find errors.