Ready Seafood

What Ready Seafood does

Ready Seafood Co. is a family-run, Maine-based lobster processor, distributor and marketer founded in 2004 by brothers John and Brendan Ready, who began their careers as working lobstermen. The company sources live lobster from independent Maine and Canadian harvesters and operates from five physical sites — a state-of-the-art processing headquarters in Saco, Maine, plus live-lobster facilities in Portland, York, Sorrento (Maine) and Boston — making it the largest lobster processing facility in the state and one of the world's largest suppliers of live and value-added lobster products. Its portfolio covers five core SKUs: Live Lobster (sustainably harvested, multi-grade, multi-size), Fresh Lobster Meat (steamed and hand-shucked within 12 hours of harvest, 12-day shelf life), Frozen Lobster Meat (flash-frozen, year-round), Whole Frozen Tails (nitrogen-frozen in the shell), and the proprietary Cold Cracked Lobster™ raw-meat product extracted via high-pressure processing without heat or steam. Beyond products, the company maintains a vertically-integrated supply chain anchored by a two-tank, one-touch handling system and a roster of certifications (SQF, HACCP, USDC, EU export, TSA, Bioterrorism Act). Ready Seafood sells to retail, wholesale and food-service companies worldwide through enterprise field sales, quote-based B2B pricing, and direct-to-consumer distribution via Goldbelly for its Cold Cracked Lobster SKU. It runs an active R&D consortium with the University of Maine, Saint Joseph's College, Red Lobster, Santa Monica Seafood, and regional fishing co-ops, and employs an on-site marine biologist — the only such role in U.S. seafood — making it the first private company to fund public lobster research. The business is privately held with 200+ employees across Maine and Massachusetts, no public funding rounds, and cumulative disclosed grants of roughly $2.65M from the Maine Technology Institute.

Name

Ready Seafood

Legal name

Ready Seafood Co.

Website

https://readyseafood.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Ready Seafood is a family-run Maine-based processor and global distributor of live and value-added lobster products, serving retail, wholesale, and food-service customers with proprietary Cold Cracked Lobster™ HPP-extracted raw meat, fresh and frozen meats, and whole frozen tails.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Seafood Processing and Distribution

NAICS

Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging (31171), Fish and Seafood Merchant Wholesalers (42446)

SIC

Prepared Fresh Or Frozen Fish & Seafoods (2092)

akta.pro primary industry

Shellfish Processing (Shrimp, Crab, Lobster, Mollusks) (AFANADAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Ready-to-Eat Seafood (Cooked Shrimp, Crab, Lobster, Surimi) (AFANALAC), Ready-to-Eat/Ready-to-Heat Seafood Meals (Prepared Foods) (AFANADAI), Seafood Wholesale (Fresh & Frozen) (AFAIADAD), Frozen Seafood Meals & Value-Added Seafood (CRADADAG)

Keywords

• Lobster processing
• Live lobster supply
• Seafood wholesale distribution
• Cold cracked lobster
• Frozen lobster meat

Headquarters

HQ city

Saco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Lobster Product Sales: Ready Seafood generates revenue through the sale of live lobster and processed lobster products including Cold Cracked Lobster, fresh cooked lobster meat, frozen lobster meat, and frozen lobster tails to retail, wholesale, and food service companies worldwide.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Ready Seafood is a family-run wholesale processor, distributor, and marketer of live and value-added lobster products. The company sources live lobster from independent harvesters in Maine and Canada and supplies Live Lobster, Cold Cracked Lobster™ (proprietary raw meat extracted via High Pressure Processing), Fresh Cooked Lobster Meat, Frozen Lobster Meat, and Whole Frozen Tails to retail, wholesale, and food service companies worldwide. Operations span live lobster facilities in Portland, York, Sorrento, and Boston and a state-of-the-art processing facility in Saco, Maine.

Product overview

Ready Seafood is a family-run wholesale lobster business offering a portfolio of live and processed lobster products. The core product portfolio consists of Live Lobster (sustainably caught Maine and Canadian lobster shipped fresh), Fresh Lobster Meat (steamed and hand-shucked within 12 hours of harvest), Frozen Lobster Meat (flash-frozen for year-round availability), Whole Frozen Tails (nitrogen-frozen shells suitable for grilling), and the proprietary Cold Cracked Lobster™ (raw, pressure-extracted meat processed via high pressure processing without heat). The company operates live lobster facilities in Portland, York, Sorrento (Maine) and Boston (Massachusetts), with a state-of-the-art processing facility in Saco, Maine. Products are shipped domestically and internationally to retail, wholesale, and food service companies worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cold Cracked Lobster: Proprietary raw lobster meat product, pressure-extracted without heat or steam, available as Claw/Knuckle or Claw/Knuckle/Leg meat, or Shell-On Raw Tails.

Products and services

• Cold Cracked Lobster™ Proprietary raw, all-natural lobster meat extracted from the shell without heat or steam using High Pressure Processing (HPP). Cold processed in small batches, available as Claw/Knuckle, Claw/Knuckle/Leg, or Shell-On Raw Tails. Sold to chefs and food service customers seeking versatile culinary control.
• Live Lobster Live lobsters sustainably caught by independent harvesters in the pristine waters of Maine and Canada. Handled via a two-tank one-touch system ensuring lobsters are only handled once before shipping, arriving with tails flipping and claws snapping. Available in Maine and Canadian Hard Shell, Maine New Shell varieties in Medium Firm and Firm grades, sizes 1–8+ lbs.
• Fresh Lobster Meat Premium steamed and hand-shucked lobster meat processed within 12 hours of harvest with a 12-day shelf-life. Available as Claw/Knuckle or Claw/Knuckle/Leg, primarily available May–December, shipped nationwide to retail, wholesale, and food service customers.
• Frozen Lobster Meat Flash-frozen lobster meat from sustainably harvested small fishing operations in the North Atlantic, retaining high protein levels and consistent flavor year-round. Available in standard 2 lb. bags or custom packs and blends, shipped nationwide.
• Whole Frozen Tails Whole lobster tails in the shell, sustainably harvested in Maine and nitrogen flash-frozen to retain high protein levels and consistent flavor. Suitable for grilling or broiling, available in industry standard sizing or custom grading and packing.

Quantifiable outcome

• 12-day shelf-life for fresh lobster meat processed within 12 hours of harvest
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of MainecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 June 2019Ready Seafood collaborates with University of Maine on lobster research focused on sustainability and quality. In 2019, donated $50,000 (along with $25,000 from Santa Monica Seafood) to fund deep-water research through the Lobster Institute. Research includes improving understanding of earliest stages of lobster life cycle and population dynamics.
• Red LobstercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Co-funding lobster research with Ready Seafood through the University of Maine. Research collaboration focused on sustainability of lobster resource.
• Cranberry Isles Fishermen's Co-opminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Co-funding juvenile lobster collector research along Maine's coast as part of the industry-science research collaboration.
• Thurston's Lobster PoundminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Co-funding juvenile lobster collector research along Maine's coast as part of the industry-science research collaboration.
• Saint Joseph's CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 October 2018Collaboration with Ready Seafood and University of Maine on a two-year research project to improve lobster quality, shipability and yield. Goal is to boost export market with more hard shell lobsters.
• Maine Technology InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Provided funding for research to improve lobster quality, shipability and yield in collaboration with University of Maine and Saint Joseph's College.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound: Canadian maritime lobster processor/wholesaler shipping live and frozen lobster domestically and abroad. Closely comparable on live and frozen lobster production with shared Atlantic Canada supply base.
• Ocean Choice International: Canadian seafood harvester/processor with significant North Atlantic lobster and shellfish processing that supplies global retail and foodservice. Overlaps with Ready Seafood in live and processed lobster exports from Atlantic Canada.
• Clearwater Seafoods (now part of Premium Brands / Fisheries LP): One of the largest North Atlantic shellfish harvesters and processors with broad live and value-added lobster, clam, scallop, and crab operations. Directly comparable in product mix, scale, and B2B foodservice/wholesale channels.
• Shucks Maine Lobster: Portland, Maine-based lobster processor and distributor shipping live and processed lobster nationwide. Direct regional competitor with overlapping Maine supply and live/processing operations.

Broad incumbents

• High Liner Foods: Public North American value-added seafood manufacturer with branded and private-label frozen seafood categories. Comparable in value-added processing capabilities and retail/foodservice distribution, though a much broader finfish-anchored portfolio.
• Thai Union Group: Global seafood processor with major shellfish and value-added frozen brands (e.g., Chicken of the Sea, King Oscar). Useful peer for understanding scale economics of value-added seafood categories where Ready Seafood hopes to grow Cold Cracked and frozen lobster SKUs.
• Pacific Seafood Group: One of the largest US family-owned seafood processors and distributors with multi-species, multi-format (live, fresh, frozen, value-added) operations. Comparable on family-owned scale processing and broad B2B distribution, though far broader than lobster alone.

Regional players

• Maine Coast Shellfish: Maine-based shellfish specialist producing live, fresh-frozen, and value-added shellfish including lobster. Regional direct peer with overlapping New England wholesale and foodservice customers.
• Cape Cod Shellfish & Seafood: New England seafood processor and wholesaler with a broad shellfish and finfish portfolio. Compares on B2B wholesale distribution model and East Coast geographic overlap, though it's broader than lobster-only.

Emerging players

• Santa Monica Seafood: West Coast seafood distributor and processor with a national foodservice footprint and live, fresh, and frozen offerings. Comparable as a B2B seafood distributor and partner on Ready Seafood's research funding, though a regional/buyer-side counterpart rather than direct lobster processor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/readyseafood
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ready-seafood

Compliance9 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ready Seafood