Topsail Steamer

What Topsail Steamer does

Topsail Steamer is a woman-owned, family-run seafood steam pot franchise founded in March 2017 by Danielle Mahon in Surf City, North Carolina. The company pioneered the take-home seafood steam pot category in the United States, selling pre-portioned, pre-seasoned "Bay Buckets" that customers steam at home in approximately 40 minutes using a single-use pot. The core product line comprises eight signature buckets (Full Steamer, Low Country Shrimp, Crabby Jimbo, Topsail Clam Bake, Captain Pierce, Wrightsville, Miss Emily II, and the Shark Bite introduced post-Shark Tank), plus a Build Your Own Bay Bucket configurator and Party Pots for groups of eight or more. Proprietary seasoning blends (Classic, Cajun, Jimmy's Way, and Herb Blend) and gluten-free options differentiate the offering. Each bucket contains fresh seafood, sausage, vegetables (corn, potatoes, onion), cocktail sauce, and butter, eliminating all prep work and grocery shopping for the consumer.

Name

Topsail Steamer

Legal name

Topsail Steamer

Website

https://topsailsteamer.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Take-Home Seafood / Ready-to-Cook Seafood Steam Pots

NAICS

Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging (311710)

SIC

Prepared Fresh Or Frozen Fish & Seafoods (2092)

akta.pro primary industry

Seafood Meal Kits & Heat-and-Eat Entrées (Prepared Meals Featuring Seafood) (AFANALAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Marinated & Seasoned Seafood (Value-Added Raw/Par-Cooked) (AFANALAE)

Keywords

• Take-home seafood
• Seafood steam pots
• Ready-to-cook meals
• Seafood meal kits
• Seafood franchise

Headquarters

HQ city

Morehead City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Retail Seafood Steam Pot Sales: Customers order and pick up Bay Buckets from physical store locations or order for local pickup online.
2. Nationwide Shipping: Orders shipped fresh to customers across the continental US through Goldbelly partnership.
3. Gift Cards: In-store gift cards (traditional or e-gift cards) and Goldbelly gift cards for nationwide shipping.
4. Franchise Fees: One-time franchise fee of $45,000 plus ongoing royalty (7%) and marketing fees (up to 1.5% brand advertising, 1% local marketing).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Topsail Steamer sells ready-to-cook seafood steam pots (Bay Buckets) that customers take home, add liquid, and steam for about 40 minutes. Each pot contains pre-portioned fresh seafood, sausage, vegetables, and homemade seasoning blends (Classic, Cajun, Jimmy's Way, Herb Blend). The company offers eight signature Bay Bucket recipes, a Build Your Own option, Party Pots for groups of 8+, and gift cards, available through local pickup at 11 retail locations and nationwide shipping via Goldbelly.

Product overview

Topsail Steamer is a ready-to-cook seafood steam pot (Bay Bucket) franchise and direct-to-consumer business. The company offers eight signature Bay Buckets (The Full Steamer, The Low Country Shrimp, The Crabby Jimbo, The Topsail Clam Bake, The Captain Pierce, The Wrightsville, The Miss Emily II, and The Shark Bite), a Build Your Own Bay Bucket option, and Party Pots for large gatherings. Each pot contains fresh seafood, vegetables, sausage, and proprietary seasoning—customers take the pot home, add liquid, and steam for about 40 minutes. The company operates 11 locations across five states (North Carolina, New Jersey, Alabama, Delaware, Florida) with nationwide shipping via Goldbelly. Seasoning options include Classic, Cajun, Jimmy's Way (Classic + Cajun), and Herb Blend. Add-ons include additional seafood (Cold Water Lobster Tail, Snow Crabs, Large Sea Scallops, Oysters) and baked goods (Key Lime Pie, Lemon Blueberry Pie, Plain or Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbreads).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bay Buckets®: Signature seafood steam pot product line featuring pre-portioned, pre-seasoned seafood boils available in various sizes and combinations including shrimp, crab, clams, sausage, corn, and potatoes
• Shark Bite
• Low-Tider®
• High-Tider®
• Party Pots

Products and services

• The Full Steamer Signature Bay Bucket featuring Snow Crab, Peel-and-Eat Shrimp, Littleneck Clams, Andouille Sausage, Sweet Corn, Red Bliss Potatoes, Onion, Homemade Seafood Seasoning, Cocktail Sauce and Butter.
• The Low Country Shrimp Signature Bay Bucket featuring Peel-and-Eat Shrimp, Andouille Sausage, Sweet Corn, Red Bliss Potatoes, Homemade Seafood Seasoning, Cocktail Sauce and Butter.
• The Crabby Jimbo Signature Bay Bucket featuring Snow Crab, Peel-and-Eat Shrimp, Sweet Corn, Red Bliss Potatoes, Homemade Seafood Seasoning, Cocktail Sauce and Butter.
• The Topsail Clam Bake Signature Bay Bucket featuring Peel-and-Eat Shrimp, Littleneck Clams, Kielbasa, Sweet Corn, Red Bliss Potatoes, Onion, Homemade Seafood Seasoning, Cocktail Sauce and Butter.
• The Captain Pierce Signature Bay Bucket featuring Snow Crab, Large Sea Scallops, Peel-and-Eat Shrimp, Littleneck Clams, Andouille Sausage, Sweet Corn, Red Bliss Potatoes, Onion, Homemade Seafood Seasoning, Cocktail Sauce and Butter.
• The Wrightsville Signature Bay Bucket featuring Snow Crab, Large Sea Scallops, Peel-and-Eat Shrimp, Littleneck Clams, Andouille Sausage, Kielbasa, Sweet Corn, Red Bliss Potatoes, Onion, Homemade Seasoning, Cocktail Sauce and Butter.
• The Miss Emily II Signature Bay Bucket featuring Cold Water Lobster Tails, Snow Crab, Littleneck Clams, Peel-and-Eat Shrimp, Andouille Sausage, Onion, Homemade Seafood Seasoning, Cocktail Sauce and Butter.
• The Shark Bite Signature Bay Bucket featuring Peel-and-Eat Shrimp, Snow Crab, Cold Water Lobster Tails, Large Sea Scallops, Andouille Sausage, Kielbasa, Littleneck Clams, Sweet Corn, Red Bliss Potatoes, Onion, Homemade Seafood Seasoning, Cocktail Sauce and Butter. This is the bucket featured on Shark Tank.
• Build Your Own Bay Bucket Customizable Bay Bucket where customers choose their seafood (Peel-and-Eat Shrimp, Snow Crab, Littleneck Clams, Sausage/Kielbasa, Large Sea Scallops, Cold Water Lobster Tail, Oysters), size (Low-Tider serves 2-3 or High-Tider serves 4-5), and seasoning.
• Party Pot Large-format seafood steam pot available in 80 or 100 quart stainless steel pots, designed for groups of 8 or more. Filled with fresh seafood, meats and veggies with homemade seasoning.
• Gift Cards Gift cards available for in-store purchases (traditional or e-gift cards) and Goldbelly gift cards for nationwide shipping, with optional signature tool bundles.
• Topsail Steamer Franchise Opportunity Franchise opportunity allowing operators to open Topsail Steamer locations in coastal and inland markets, with a $45,000 franchise fee, total investment range of $242,013-$398,850, minimum net worth requirement of $400,000, 7% ongoing royalty, and marketing fees (up to 1.5% brand advertising, 1% local marketing).

Quantifiable outcome

• Ready in about 40 minutes
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 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

One partnership is on record.

• GoldbellycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGoldbelly serves as Topsail Steamer's nationwide shipping partner, enabling customers anywhere in the continental US to order Bay Buckets for delivery. This partnership extends the company's reach beyond its 11+ physical locations.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Lobster Anywhere: Lobster Anywhere is an online seafood retailer specializing in mail-order lobster and seafood dinners shipped nationwide. Highly comparable to Topsail Steamer on the take-home/shipped seafood meal format, premium positioning, and gift/occasion use cases, though it focuses on lobster-centric meals rather than the steam-pot format.
• FishFix: FishFix is a meal-kit style seafood delivery service offering pre-portioned, restaurant-quality fish and seafood for home cooking. Comparable to Topsail Steamer on the pre-portioned, ready-to-cook seafood meal concept targeted at home cooks seeking restaurant-quality results without prep work.
• Shuckin' Shack Oyster Bar: Shuckin' Shack is a seafood restaurant franchise with a comparable casual seafood positioning and franchise growth model. While Shuckin' Shack focuses on oysters and a broader seafood menu in dine-in settings, it is comparable as a franchise-driven, casual seafood brand serving similar customer demographics.
• Crab Du Jour: Crab Du Jour is a seafood boil restaurant franchise that has been expanding aggressively across the US. It is the most directly comparable franchise-format seafood boil concept to Topsail Steamer, sharing the same target customer (families, groups), product format (seasoned seafood boils), and growth model (multi-state franchise expansion).

Broad incumbents

• HelloFresh: HelloFresh is a leading meal-kit delivery subscription service. While much larger and broader than Topsail Steamer, it shares the underlying value proposition of pre-portioned, ready-to-cook meals that eliminate grocery shopping and prep work - the same problem Topsail Steamer solves for the seafood-specific occasion (beach vacations, gatherings).
• The Boiling Crab: The Boiling Crab is a multi-unit seafood boil restaurant chain specializing in Cajun-style shrimp, crab, and crawfish boils served in bags. While Topsail Steamer is a take-home steam-pot concept and The Boiling Crab is dine-in, they share the same underlying seafood boil category, customer demographic, and flavor profile (Cajun seasoning, communal seafood experience). Comparable as the most established seafood-boil-format incumbent.
• Hot N Juicy Crawfish: Hot N Juicy Crawfish is a multi-unit seafood boil restaurant chain with locations across multiple states, focused on Cajun-style boils with customizable seasoning levels. Highly comparable to Topsail Steamer in product format (seafood boils with seasonings) and target customer (families, groups, casual seafood diners). Both operate in the seafood boil category, though Hot N Juicy is dine-in versus take-home.
• Captain D's: Captain D's is a large, established seafood quick-service restaurant chain with hundreds of locations nationwide. While a much broader and more traditional seafood QSR than Topsail Steamer, it competes for the same customer occasion (affordable family seafood meals) and represents the kind of scale benchmark a successful Topsail Steamer franchise system could ultimately approach.

Emerging players

• Blue Apron: Blue Apron is a meal-kit delivery service offering pre-portioned ingredients and recipes. Comparable to Topsail Steamer on the take-home, ready-to-cook, portioned-meal experience, though Blue Apron operates as a national subscription service versus Topsail's per-occasion purchase model and seafood-specific niche.

Others

• Goldbelly: Goldbelly is a curated online marketplace for specialty and regional foods from across the US, including a range of seafood offerings. While not a direct competitor, Goldbelly is Topsail Steamer's distribution partner for nationwide shipping, and many of its other seafood vendors (e.g., lobster rolls, smoked fish) compete for the same customer occasion.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/topsailsteamer
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/topsailsteamer

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Topsail Steamer