In this episode of The Boulos Beat, guest host Tony McDonald sits down with Luke Holden, founder and CEO of Luke’s Lobster. Luke shares his journey from growing up in Maine’s lobstering industry to working in New York investment banking, and how a search for an authentic lobster roll led to the founding of Luke’s Lobster in 2009 with his father and business partner Ben Conniff. Now operating 28 locations across the United States, with international locations in Singapore and Japan, Luke’s Lobster has become a globally recognized brand rooted in sustainability and quality. Luke discusses the importance of vertical integration, community relationships, and the strategic growth of the company’s consumer packaged goods business. The conversation also explores how Luke’s restaurant footprint and real estate strategy play a critical role in brand awareness and long-term growth. Perfect for listeners interested in entrepreneurship, food and beverage, brand expansion, sustainability, and real estate strategy.
In this episode of The Boulos Beat, guest host Tony McDonald sits down with Luke Holden, founder and CEO of Luke’s Lobster. Luke shares his journey from growing up in Maine’s lobstering industry to working in New York investment banking, and how a search for an authentic lobster roll led to the founding of Luke’s Lobster in 2009 with his father and business partner Ben Conniff.
Now operating 28 locations across the United States, with international locations in Singapore and Japan, Luke’s Lobster has become a globally recognized brand rooted in sustainability and quality. Luke discusses the importance of vertical integration, community relationships, and the strategic growth of the company’s consumer packaged goods business. The conversation also explores how Luke’s restaurant footprint and real estate strategy play a critical role in brand awareness and long-term growth.
Perfect for listeners interested in entrepreneurship, food and beverage, brand expansion, sustainability, and real estate strategy.
MSD 25-0333 Luke Holden (2)
Mon, Feb 09, 2026 1:14PM • 44:22
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Luke's Lobster, Maine lobster industry, vertical integration, sustainability, B Corp certification, real estate selection, entrepreneurial spirit, investment banking, working waterfront, community building, brand mission, consumer packaged goods, stakeholder engagement, business growth, leadership.
SPEAKERS
Luke Holden, Tony McDonald
Tony McDonald 00:00
I'd like to welcome our listeners to the bolus beat Podcast. I'm Tony McDonald, a partner at The Boulos Company, and I'm guest hosting for Greg Boulos. The Boulos Company is northern New England's largest commercial real estate services firm with offices in Portland Maine as well as in Manchester and Portsmouth New Hampshire. We've been selling and leasing real estate in Maine and New Hampshire since 1975 This podcast is designed to provide insight into Maine's leaders, it's movers and shakers. Speaking of movers and shakers, I'd like to welcome Luke Holden, founder and CEO of Luke's lobster to the boldest beat. Luke grew up in Cape Elizabeth Maine, a third generation lobsterman who started learning the trade at age 13 after attending Georgetown University and beginning an investment banking career in Wall Street, Luke was remiss to find that every lobster roll available in New York was overpriced, drowning in Mayo and diluted with celery. He craved a real main style roll, and simply couldn't find one. Luke saw an opportunity to bring a casual seafood spot like the homegrown lobster shacks of his childhood to New York's culinary landscape. In 2009 Luke decided to harness his passion for excellent seafood and his family's 40 plus years in the Maine lobster industry to open the first Luke's lobster in East Village with his dad, Jeff, a lobster processor, and Ben Conniff to keep up with demand, Luke and partners opened Luke's lobster owned seafood Processing Facility in 2012 the complete vertical integration ensures every lobster served at Luke's is handled with care and kept pristine. Today, Luke spends the majority of the year in Maine, where he maintains relationships with lobstermen and overseas production at Luke's lobster's processing facility. He has also served on a number of boards, including the Maine lobster marketing collaborative, the island Institute, the tenants harbor fisherman's Co Op, which he helped found. Luke donates a portion of its proceeds to the ocean Foundation and the island Institute, helping preserve Maine's fishing communities and the sustainability of our oceans. Over the years, Luke has also been included on the Forbes 30 under 30, the Inc, 30 under 30. Zagats, 30 under 30, and cranes 40 under 40. Apparently you're aging as this goes on now that you're on the 40 under 40. You know, before we start, I just want to mention for our listeners something I thought was kind of cool when I met Luke. We met because we both served. He currently serves on the board of gmri Gulf, main Research Institute. I'm a former board member who turned out, but I'm still very, very active with gmri. And so we met through some gmri business, and we quickly learned we had a lot of commonalities. I started lobstering when I was 12 years old. Luke started, I think when he was eight, was around the waterfront and started. When did you actually start fishing yourself in your own boat? Early high school? Yeah, yeah. And I had a similar experience. You were in Cape Elizabeth, I was in Pine Point in Scarborough. Both had our own lobster boats. We're both making way more money than any of the other kids our age. So that was kind of an interesting thing. But then we got talking and we realized we both have a real keen interest in Down East type lobster boats, their style, their feel, and just those in general. That led into a boat discussion, and we found that we both also really like really cool, high end offshore center console fishing boats. So now we're kind of getting like, you know, we're twin brothers of different mothers or something. And then one day, we arrive at a meeting, and we both arrive in the identical car, which is not a common car, it's an it's an Audi wagon. All road the same car, the same color and the same trim package. And we just started chuckling that this is bizarre. It gets Curiouser and curiouser. So anyway, welcome Luke. I'm glad you're here, so let's just jump in here. So you know, main roots, early inspirations. You grew up in Cape Elizabeth and spent your summers lobstering. How did that upbringing shape your work ethic and your connection to Maine's Waterfront Communities?
Luke Holden 04:11
Tony, thanks for having me today. I really appreciate it. So I grew up in a working waterfront family. My dad was a lobster man. He was actually the very first licensed lobster processor in the state of Maine. So my upbringing was Portland, working waterfront, unloading everything from lobster boats, red crab boats, ground fish boats, and then living, living in those production facilities. As a young kid, I always hear the fishermen. You know, my favorite thing to do was to see those guys coming into the harbor, unload their catch, help them unload their catch. Learn as much as I could about what what life was out on the ocean, because I really like my comfort zone was grading lobsters, picking lobster. Faster meet the food safety side of running a production business like that's the that's the world that I, that I grew up in. But I really Herod those fishermen, so I got the, the really unique opportunity to to build a boat in high school. Cape had this really neat shop class where he did woodworking one and woodworking two, then you could take the boat building class. And so I started building a boat. And at the same time, back before there was virtual job posting websites, there was the, you know, the old take a eight by 11 piece of paper and put some phone numbers on the bottom and trim them up. I pulled one of those numbers for a job listing for a an apprentice sternman work one summer, and it was for this wonderful man named Ed Perry. Ed Perry was a commercial lobsterman in kettle Cove, and he was also a teacher. So he was like an incredible introduction to working on a lobster boat, because he was a teacher by nature, but a very, very good commercial lobster run. So I spent the first couple of years actually working on the back of his boat and learned the trade. You know, absolutely fell in love with it. I loved the excitement of the lottery of what what might be in each one of those traps, it was just, it was a job that that was really a passion and and I learned that very, very early when you can kind of pair a passion with a job, it might not feel like work. And so very grateful to Ed for that experience. But I built that boat, and maybe, like, three years into it, ended up fishing out of that boat in its entirety, and my youngest brother was my stern men. And I really, I cherish those days. Those were, like, really, it was a really exciting, fun, hard, hard job, and at a young age to to be in a position where, you know, you got to show the initiative to actually produce a paycheck, and that start of like managing a balance sheet, or PNL to manage a small business, you think it was like a very productive way to spend my time and just continue to grow my love for the ocean?
Tony McDonald 07:30
Yeah, I can relate to that totally. We're both businessmen now, and when I look back that experience of I similar to you, I started fishing as a stern man at 12 of the local Harbor Master, Joey Anderson, and he just passed away two years ago. So God bless him. But then three years later, I bought my own boat and actually had it built up in Nova Scotia, which sounds crazy and high price. Now, at the time, it wasn't a ton of money, and the boat came down from Canada, unpainted, upside down on top of a dump truck full of redfish bait, and got dumped off the ferry terminal in Portland, and my dad and I had to figure out to get it to Pine Point. But anyway, the what I learned there is you got to take the initiative. And lobstering was a hard job, but it was simple and pure. And you could just, you could go out there and just the money was there. You just had to go out and pick it up. The money was in the traps. You had to go haul them up, but you got to show up, and you got to do it. And I think that that simple lesson has served us both well as we've gone off into business. Sounds like you had some really good mentors, both in and out of your family, which is, is, is really helpful. Did you? You must have got some of that entrepreneur, entrepreneurial, excuse me, spirit, just, you know, watching your dad's business and watching others. Does that kind of show you a little bit about what you can do if you go out and apply yourself?
Luke Holden 09:10
Yeah, I mean, retracing on our last some fishermen are some of the hardest people, hardest working people that that I surround myself with, and that's such a you know? You you learn to, you pick up on that right? And if you're, if you're around that energy, you start to absorb some of that energy. On entrepreneurial front, my dad was an entrepreneur. All his brothers were entrepreneurs, and so those were, those were my role models. And then when you when you beyond family. And then when you get into the seafood business, the lobster business in particular, you know, everybody's their own sole proprietor. Everybody's an entrepreneur. And so that was, like, that was the environment that that I grew up in. That's the only environment I knew. I mean, it wasn't until after college that, you know, I got a real job. So to speak, that was like working for a paycheck outside of that. It was either working directly for entrepreneurs or or being in that that, you know, eat what you kill type environment.
Tony McDonald 10:16
Well, let's, let's riff off that. So you're a kid from Maine, and you went to school at Georgetown, but after college, you left Maine for a time. So I'm interested What took you out of Maine. What'd you do when you're out there, and then what brought you back?
Luke Holden 10:36
So I graduated from Georgetown down in DC in 2007 and at the time, I had no idea what I wanted to do professionally. I had a double major in management and finance, and it was that time period where it was very easy to go get a job as an investment banker in New York City, and so that seemed like a fun challenge where maybe I can make a little bit of money, definitely learn some things. So I got a job as a as an investment banker, and I did that for three years, and it was, it was full of hard workers. I liked the team sport nature of taking really complicated projects, deals, breaking them down into parts and pieces, and then strong individual efforts. But great team efforts got got things done, so that resonated well with me, but at the end of the day, like there just wasn't a lot of passion that was associated with that job. You know, was I was working with great people, and I was learning, and I was competing and I was earning, but, but it wasn't, wasn't like we have spring out of bed today and go to work. You know, definitely something that I had learned, what that felt like when I was lobstering, because I was always excited to jump out of bed and go to work when I was lobstering. So the honest to goodness story, the founding story of Luke's is that I was at my desk on a summer Sunday afternoon, and I was missing home. And something that
Tony McDonald 12:27
reminded me on a Sunday though, showing that entrepreneurial spirit that
Luke Holden 12:31
was very common with investment banking, yeah, but nothing else to do. So that was okay, you know?
Luke Holden 12:39
But I I was, I was missing home, and so I went online looking for something to remind me a home, and that was a lobster roll. And I searched everywhere in New York City, and I could not find an affordable, super high quality, traditional, main style lobster roll. It was everything contrary to that. So I started to actually build a business plan that kind of answered that question of, why doesn't this exist in New York City? And I really couldn't find a great answer. And at this point in time, we're talking like the summer of 2009 so we're in a pretty deep recession New York is it was a pretty repressed place at the time, so I started checking all those boxes, like, is it because real estate costs are really high? And sure enough, like, that was not the answer. The first lease we ever had was was $3,000 a month. And because we were in a recession, and the landlord had a for rent sign up for a bunch, bunch of time, he was willing to take a one month security deposit and and a, you know, limited guarantee on a on a on a kid who had no financial backing and no operating experience, right? So a lot of ways, it was a blessing that we're in a in a recession. Otherwise, Luke's probably wouldn't have got the opportunity to get started. So I built this business plan kind of answering the question of why didn't exist. Couldn't find a good answer. Shared it with a bunch of friends and mentors and and they said, Yeah, you know, this might be worth your time, supportive of, of of the of the underpinnings of of the value proposition. So I called my dad up and I said, Dad, you know, this is what I'd like to do. What do you think? And will you co fund it with me? And he said, you know, send up the business plan. So I think I literally mailed it, you know, it wasn't, wasn't doing email, and the business plan called for a $30,000 initial investment, and so I had $15,000 of savings from banking. And Dad, dad read the business plan, and he said, Yeah, this sounds. Sounds this sounds great. Count me in and and so he put up the 15 grand. I found out, like five or six later, five or six years later, that he actually borrowed against this 401, K to come up with that. But dad, Yeah, Dad, Mom, have always been that way, where I'm one of three boys. My two younger brothers are all partners in the business today, as is my dad, but my parents have always given me and my brothers every opportunity that they could afford, any door they could ever open up. They've always just figured out how to how to say yes, even if it means borrowing against your 401 K for some half baked idea. And I found a fun a co founder on Craigslist, so I basically put this post up that was like incredible connection to the resource and supplier is a partner in the business my dad and some of the best lobster, crab and shrimp on the planet. And we're dedicated to serving the best seafood and treating people the way that they deserve to be treated. And the rest of it is kind of up for interpretation and development. And so of all these, like, I think I got like 500 responses, and went through them, some overqualified, some now qualified, some interesting. And I ended up meeting with a bunch, but one that was in that interesting category. My co founder guy named Ben Conniff. So Ben had recently graduated from Yale. He was a Brazilian history major who had zero experience running restaurants. But Ben was really interesting because he was a Benzie brand's a brilliant person. He's very analytical, and he's a storyteller by
Tony McDonald 16:51
nature Brazilian, or he was a Brazilian history where's the space there is that he's a Brazilian history major, or Brazilian history major.
Luke Holden 17:01
He's a Brazilian history major, so like that. Just to show that he majored in something that, like is completely irrelevant to starting a lobster roll business. But, but Ben had the opportunity growing up to spend a little bit of time out in Georgetown five Island Co Op. And so he kind of saw and felt the magic of connectivity to the working waterfront and what, what quality can really taste like. And so Ben was really good about wrapping a story around Luke's lobster, a story that enabled us to to really express my family, heritage and our connection with the source, our connection with fishermen, and have that resonate into a value proposition for for our guests. So Ben was hired as the General Manager, and he took a peanut salary with the opportunity for for equity, if this thing ever did anything, and Ben, Ben was instrumental in those early days and getting the business up and going. And were you still working as an investment banker? I kept the day job so, like, I was pretty risk adverse, and it was kind of like I could pretty much afford the rent. If you know worst case scenario, we had to close this thing and I just burn out the guarantee, it's kind of like, oh, might have to drop my bar tab a little bit, but I can afford from my apartment and this rent if things don't work out. So I kept the investment banking job for the first it's basically the first nine months, yeah, first nine months of Luke's. And it was weekends, nights, I was the accountant and supply guy, and just was a time of life where, like, he didn't need sleep, and the business just created a ton of energy. So it was as 24/7 but I loved every minute of it.
Tony McDonald 19:04
That's a gutsy move. I mean, at that point in time. I mean, it's a gutsy move at any point in time, but at that point in time, fast casual seafood wasn't a thing. I don't think anybody was really doing that. So thank God for that landlord who was desperate enough, or whatever his motivations were, to let you get started. How did you find the space? We just walking down the street and saw our police sign, and that's where we're going. Yeah.
Luke Holden 19:38
So I I had narrowed in on a couple different streets and a couple different locations, and I asked dad to come down and just walk him with me. And so we were walking Ninth Street and 10th Street and hanging out afternoons, nights, weekday. Days, weekends, just trying to get a feel for the traffic and how people were using the real estate that was there. And we ended up choosing the location. Sorry, it was actually we were walking on Seventh Street, Ninth Street and 10th Street, and in those three perspective locations, because we ended up choosing a location on Seventh Street, right outside of St Mark's place, because that street itself had five or six other food concepts that were really good at one thing, it was essentially a street that was almost like a food crawl, every concept an eatery kind of approach, everybody was really good at one thing in a rapist place, a porque no place, ice cream shop, things that people overly specialized in. So it wasn't a bunch of full service restaurants that catered to a wide array of people. It was people who were focused on, on, on one or two things, and were best in best in class. So what you ended up seeing is people who come to Seventh Street, and they'd get a little of this, they get a little of that. And it was a really neat scene. And so we, I think we really it was that first choice to pick that particular real estate was critically important. It was just and There ended up being an incredible amount of media buzz on that street for the entire subset of of all those food brands.
Tony McDonald 21:35
That's really cool. How many restaurants do you have? US have now?
Luke Holden 21:38
We have 28 in the US, and then a couple in Singapore, and like six or seven in Japan. Unbelievable.
Tony McDonald 21:46
How has your approach to site selection evolved as you've expanded both in the US and abroad? So you and dad walked down the street and pick a storefront.
Luke Holden 21:57
I was down in Key West a couple days ago with with my brother and one of our partners kind of doing that right? It's like you gotta, you gotta touch it and feel it. There's with real estate, and you know this better than I do. There's an art and a science. The Science piece of it is all the analytics that you can get from either credit card data, phone data, AI data, and you can extrapolate with prior locations how that might transpose on a particular new location. But like, that science part isn't always accurate, and so you've got to marry it up with the art part of like, spending time in it and and looking to see who the guest is and how they're interacting with the market. And you know whether your value proposition will, will, will work. So it's a little bit, uh, there's, there's the art feely side of it, and then there's the science data side of it.
Tony McDonald 23:01
You're right when you're there, yeah, yeah, no matter what the numbers say. So let's bring it back to Portland, all the way from Singapore. So your Portland pier location is relatively new. I mean, what is that? Four years now? 2018 2018 Okay, that's Jesus. Longer than that, yeah, time flies. That was an interesting, or is an interesting combination of working waterfront space on the PR. You've got, you know, working waterfront function out there, but you've got this really kind of high end restaurant going there. What were you thinking when you put that together? Those are two, what some would say are somewhat incompatible uses. But did you be worried about that, or did you have to figure out how to make it work?
Luke Holden 23:48
Or, yeah, I love what we've done on Portland pier, because I think it is a wonderful model for fortifying and sustaining the working waterfront. So prior to us coming to Portland pier, there was one long time operator who knew Meadows lobster Yeah, Mr. McElhaney, yeah, Peter. And he was an icon in the Maine lobster industry and a real leader in the main lobster industry. And Peter built an amazing business and did it out of that location. When Peter decided to sell his business and leave the pier, there was a couple of operators that tried to figure it out, and they just couldn't make it work. The economics did not work, and what ended up happening is there was no investment in the pier, so without any capex, the pier fell apart, and the fishermen ended up leaving the pier. So now you've got this dilapidated pier that's not serving the working water for. On, it's not safe for boats to burst there. There's no dealer, so there's no strength and number, yeah, with, with no market, right? Every, every one of these harbors is better off having a couple of dealers than just one dealer, right? Optionality creates competition and and so we came in, and we're like, All right, well, it's, it's clear that this pier can hold eight to 10 boats like you gotta, gotta rebuild the working waterfront to make sure that we've got a good, safe, reliable space for fishermen to birth and park their vehicles and work from so we found an amazing landlord that was willing to invest in
Tony McDonald 25:47
that Ted West and those guys, yep, yep,
Luke Holden 25:52
Ted's business, Mr. West's business. And so he, he, he definitely gave us a great opportunity. He said, All right, we're going to rebuild the working waterfront. And then we said, Great. Well, what we're going to do to make this a really strong investment for you is we're going to turn the condo and dilapidated office space into a restaurant that showcases the products, the seafood, that our fishermen ultimately end up going and catch. And it was really that combination of a best in class seafood restaurant that could generate a lot of sales, that could generate a lot of rent, that ultimately maintains the capex that you need to maintain safe, reliable, working waterfront space. So the birthing around that pier for fishermen is hasn't changed since 2018 super affordable. Certain amount of designated parking spots on that pier is for the fishermen. Those rates have not changed, and I think that that's like, really important in order to fortify and sustain the working waterfront, because those fishermen don't have the economics to pay the capex or the property taxes that it take to maintain that access to that working waterfront, but the restaurant has the ability to drive enough sales to create enough rent, and the reason it does is because of its connection to the working waterfront. So it's really that, like symbiotic circle. It is, yeah, it's a great flywheel. And Mr. West and his team gave us that opportunity, and we've done a, I think my team has done an amazing job stewarding that and building a kick ass business and restaurant down there.
Tony McDonald 27:59
It's a great example of how tourism and working waterfront, and I'm going to say retail, I'm not sure I want to use the full retail word, but a lot of how those can coexist, and actually in a very symbiotic manner. A lot of people, over time have tried to, quote, unquote, protect the working waterfront by very stringent zoning and not allowing non working waterfront uses to go in. And I think the city has been reasonably good about adapting their zoning to the new reality. I think they could go further, and I hope they do go further, but I think what you're doing there reminds me of the waterfront Halifax somewhat, which is that's a fun trip to go up there, and I think they've done a good job there, mixing working waterfront, and I'm going to call it retail. I don't really mean Nordstroms, but you know, restaurants and shops and things like that, and you're making it work there, largely speaking, do you own your real estate in places? Do you lease it, or do you see any advantages or disadvantages to one versus the other? Or is a lease all the control you need to do what you
Luke Holden 29:17
want to do. Of the 28 some odd restaurants, they're all leases. And, you know, we're in big cities all across the US. So there is, and often we are, you know, one of many tenants right in the building. Like, I can't even, like, really recall. It might be two or three standalone buildings, but in most cases, we are, you know, a first floor tenant in a high rise,
Tony McDonald 29:44
and that model works for you. So when you're trying to create what I'm going to call the Luke's lobster experience in a new market, how important is the architecture of the building? Is it significant? Or. Or do you approach it? Just give me my box and I'll create the experience here. Or does the building matter much to what you're doing?
Luke Holden 30:09
Curve appeal is definitely part of the, you know, the art of real estate selection, but more significantly, it's who is the customer and what are they looking for in in that market. And then once we've got a, you know, a box, we can start to bring it to life, to serve as a loose lobster.
Tony McDonald 30:32
You know, you guys are known for sustainability in your sourcing of lobster, but I noticed I was in one of your facilities one day, and there was a lot of really cool old junk laying around, and I asked about it, and you guys kind of seemed to take a lot of old stuff, architectural salvage stuff, things like that, and reuse it. Tell me about that. Is that a conscious focus on sustainability? Or how does that work for you?
Luke Holden 31:05
Yeah, so we, we are a certified B Corp. Got certified back in probably 2016
Luke Holden 31:15
been recertified now a couple of times, and at times, we've been the highest scoring seafood and Restaurant Group in the world and and So sustainability is definitely part of that. When you go into some of the shacks and and you see some of the reclaimed furniture or decorations like this is part of our vibe. Like, the reality is that we've got our own metal and wood shop that's down in the facility in Saco, and we used mostly reclaimed materials, and we build all of our own tables and chairs. So everything from the metal base
Tony McDonald 31:54
is amazing. That's a continuation of that vertical integration thinking most restaurant tours would not build their own tables.
Luke Holden 32:00
We have a little bit of a disease when it comes to vertical integration that there's probably no one doesn't like we do it. Yeah, we gotta get off that at some point in time. It's working
Tony McDonald 32:11
for you. Seems like it's working for you. I want to move on to leadership. But before we do Is
Tony McDonald 32:19
there anything you think seafood restaurant industries can learn from the real estate world or vice versa when it comes to this long term environmental stewardship aspect of I mean, that seems like it'd be an important part of what you guys do.
Luke Holden 32:35
You know? What I think I've learned the most on that front is that it's just really important to involve all the stakeholders right. Whenever you try and make decisions in a vacuum, you almost never get the right response. And so, like, the reality of that in in seafood, and maybe some of this is applicable in real estate, is that if, like, you want to make a conservation change, like, you better have a fisherman at the table with a scientist and a regulator if you're if you're trying to make a decision, and all you have is one perspective of a broad group of stakeholders. You almost always miss the mark. So you know, we've spent a lot of time trying to make sure that all of the voices are represented in some of these bigger decisions, and more often than not, it's making sure there's representation from the fishing community.
Tony McDonald 33:29
That stakeholder concept, I could not agree with you more, a friend and somewhat mentor years and years ago, taught me about that. He was very experienced and skilled in going in front of city councils, planning boards, things of that nature, and taught me that concept of stakeholders, which he said, Do you know what that means? I said, Yeah, I know what the word means. He says, No, but do you know what it means? You really have to go out and you have to think it's not readily apparent sometimes, who the stakeholders are. But think about who's impacted by what we're thinking of doing, and then get them at the table and talk to them. And you may or may not be able to satisfy everything they want, but you've got to know they're there, and you got to recognize who they are and their vote counts on what you're doing. So So leadership, vision, the future. You've worn a lot of different hats. You've been a lobsterman, an investment banker, an entrepreneur, now a real estate investor, not real estate investor, but a investor, entrepreneur, whose success is very much tied to real estate in a lot of different communities. How do you how have those experiences shaped? How you see opportunity. I'm not sure I know what the question is that I'm trying to get here, but maybe you know the answer in that you've done a lot of different things, and is that helpful as you look at these new opportunities and how you assess things?
Luke Holden 34:57
Well, like I've got the um. In the arc of being a founder a very small business without any real outside experience that was truly applicable. You know, I think, sure, like being a lobsterman was was helpful. Being a banker was helpful. Being a leader, a captain on sports teams, was was helpful, but in the context of, like, being a CEO of a business our size today, and have any applicable experience and and so it's taken, like a lot of I've been so very self aware around that and doing whatever I can to constantly surround myself with mentors and learning and leadership opportunities to help develop and Work on that transition of being a founder to a a CEO, and I'll always be on that journey. Always have a lot of curiosity to continue to improve but, but I've just been very intentional of of kind of naming that so that I can continue to do what I love, which is being the leader of Luke's lobster.
Tony McDonald 36:25
It's interesting, when you look at future expansion for Luke's, do you think of it more as restaurants or,
Tony McDonald 36:41
you know the real estate aspect of it, you you're located in some pretty cool locations. Do you think of it when you open a restaurant? That maybe it's not a cool location now, but if we go there, we're going to create a vibe. Or do you depend on the real estate guys to have a location pre vibed that that you then come into Yeah.
Luke Holden 37:04
So the growth for Luke's is we have a couple different business segments. Actually, we've got the shacks, the restaurants, and we've got a wholesale business, and then we've got our consumer packaged goods. And the reality is that the consumer packaged good business is the one that's getting the most oxygen right now, and the one that I've got the highest expectations for for year over year, compounded growth, the restaurant group should continue to grow top line sales 10% a year, and that team is pretty well built to be great operators at that level of growth. And the consumer packaged good business, it really should grow 100% top line for the next three years, and I bet you, it'll be the same size as the Restaurant Group by the end of those three years. So we are very focused on on growing that business at this point in time. You know, we think that we can and should be the go to brand in grocery within the frozen seafood section. And so that is a that's a huge opportunity for for us, in in in in fully kind of realizing our brand mission, which is to become the world's most trusted seafood brand. The next vertical for us is, is frozen seafood and grocery stores. And what's kind of interesting to tie it back to your original question, is that as we continue to grow the real estate footprint for the shacks, we continue to grow brand awareness and and vice versa in the seafood frozen case, so the two ultimately should be working in concert to continue to acquire customers and and create value, lifetime value, from those customers.
Tony McDonald 39:10
You set some pretty high bars for yourself, and you seem to keep achieving them. That's you know. You're not sitting home watching TV, you're making it happen, and which is exciting and energetic. So you're looking forward every day, but looking back? Is there a project, whether it's a restaurant, a pier, or a partnership that you are most proud of?
Luke Holden 39:35
Luke's, has now existed for just over 16 years, which is kind of crazy, and I'm not sure I could actually point to any one particular project, but I am most proud of the community that Luke's has formed. We are just a great group of supportive people, kind of people, and there's been all sorts of people that have come and gone and so. People have been here for a long time, but we've always, always been a great group of people, a great community of people and and that is 100% what I'm most proud of, and that I hope and will never be a part of, if, if it ever changes, work to protect that and evolve it.
Tony McDonald 40:17
That's That's something to be proud of, right? There any advice you'd give to entrepreneurs who are trying to build something that's both profitable and purpose driven? It's really hard, yeah?
Luke Holden 40:29
Because I, you know, often those things don't, don't jive perfectly, but I think, I don't think I'm gonna give you a great answer on this, yeah, but I think that you know where I stand today. It's like my job is to make sure that the strategy for the business is clear, that we've got enough capital to execute that strategy, and I'm a coordinator of people, so I've got the right people to execute that strategy. And so when you when you sort of break it down, I think it's like, critically important just to be real and be realistic. Like, do you have a good strategy? Do you have the capital to support it, and you have the people to ultimately execute it. And so there's been so many times over the last 16 years where one of those things has not been true, and I've still tried to do it, and more often than not it fails is because you're going too fast or or not paying attention, or you're stubborn, or your ego gets in the way. But ultimately, like capital people and strategy, and if you got those things balanced, you'll probably be probably get it right when you get it wrong,
Tony McDonald 42:02
investment banker meets nice guy and keeps it all together. It's been 16 years and you've obviously been very successful. How do you define success now as a restaurant or a meaner and a steward of the waterfront,
Luke Holden 42:20
my life is a whole lot more balanced today than it was seven or eight years ago. You know, now I've got an amazing partner, amazing wife and three incredible little girls, and so I'm hyper focused on making sure I'm a great partner, a great dad, and then also a great, great CEO for Luke's. And actually think those three things can work really well together if you're really intentional around maintaining balance and making sure that you're investing the right energy and at the right times in all three of those things. But But for us, for me, it's, it's, it's being the best I can, and all at all those things. For Luke's, it's continuing to serve the ultimate brand mission of becoming the world's most trusted seafood brand. And for us to do that, we've got to continue to live our core brand values through through our business segments, the restaurants, the CPG business and the wholesale business we've got to execute and continue to continue to bring more and more customers into that flywheel.
Tony McDonald 43:35
Sounds like a recipe for success. So Luke, thank you for being our guest today on the bolus beat, which is another bolus company podcast. I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with us. You can learn more about Luke and Luke's lobster at the company's website, which is Luke's lobster.com, on Facebook, at at Luke's lobster Portland pier, and on Instagram at at Luke's Portland. If you'd like to learn more about The Boulos Company, you can visit our website@www.boulos.com you can also find us at The Boulos Company on Facebook and LinkedIn and at theboulosco on Instagram. So thank you very much for listening. Thank you very much for being here, Luke and let's all go have a lobster roll. Thanks for having me Tony.