The Lobster Institute of the University of Maine at Orono has for many years partnered with university researchers to develop value-added products and processes that could benefit Maine’s lobster and crab industries. Their projects have included using lobster and crab by-product in seafood snacks and pasta, developing a soy-based lobster bait, and patenting a process that can extend the shelf life and enhance the flavor of frozen lobster.
Cathy Billings, Assistant Director for Communications and Development at the Institute, says “The most difficult part has been getting out of the lab into the commercial marketplace, getting entrepreneurs interested in producing and marketing the new products.”
Last December, a series of fortuitous circumstances opened the way for a new relationship between the Institute and Patricia Pinto, who has since formed Saltwater Marketing, LLC, which now acts as the institute’s commercialization partner. Saltwater Marketing holds an exclusive “Option to License” agreement with the University for seafood-based product inventions created by UMO and the Lobster Institute.
With professional experience that includes running MarketWORKS, a marketing and business consulting practice out of Portland for five years, managerial positions at Unum, three years as VP of Marketing Operations and Strategic Planning for the National Restaurant Association and five years as Market Research Associate and Manager for Dunkin’ Donuts, Pinto comes to the job with extensive know-how, contacts and networking. She took on the venture, she says, at a time when she was considering leaving Maine to find a new direction, but after talking with Billings and Bob Bayer, Director of the Lobster Institute, she became so interested in the possibilities the Institute’s marketing needs presented, she decided to take on the challenge.
Pinto partnered with Andrew Molloy, who also has extensive experience in marketing, strategic planning and project management and has worked for Maine Science and Technology Foundation and Gorham Advanced Materials, Inc.
At this time, Saltwater Marketing is focusing on licensing a patented process developed by Bayer and Al Bushway of UMO’s Food Science and Human Nutrition Department. The technique preserves the texture and flavor of frozen lobsters and crabmeat and increases their shelf life and cooked yield. Pinto says Saltwater Marketing already has a potential buyer in New Brunswick, and she is confident there will be more.
In July, Saltwater Marketing received a grant from the Maine Technology Institute to experiment with using the patented process in another way – to formulate and produce flavor-infused lobster and crab meat. Pinto says she expects this new product, which could include rosemary, lemon-butter, and horseradish-garlic-ginger flavorings, will initially interest large chain family restaurants, resorts, cruise ships and casinos. She will work with Hancock Gourmet Lobster Co. of Brunswick to test the product with their customers.
The company is also working on perfecting a pet treat, which grew out of a snack for people developed at the university from lobster and crabmeat by-product. “We’ve taken the basic human snack product and dramatically increased the amount of lobster and crab in it, and also added shell,” explains Pinto. The large amount of chitin in the treat makes it high in calcium and other nutrients.
The pet treat is still in the developmental stage, but not far from being ready for the market. Presently, Pinto and Molloy are “tweaking the formula” – conducting research surveys with pet owners with different forms and flavors and considering if it is worthwhile to add vitamins and fish oils to enhance its nutritional value. After they’ve perfected the formula, they will turn their attention to the people snack.
Pinto says they will continue to help the Institute and university researchers explore new value-added products utilizing lobster, crab and mussels. The company is also considering joining forces with a large lobster dealer to re-open an abandoned seafood processing facility in downeast Maine.
Having Saltwater Marketing handle the commercial end of their products has given new promise to the Institute’s research. “They’re putting so much energy into this,” Billings says. “They have the time and expertise to devote to that end of things that we don’t have here, where it’s just one phase of our work. We feel very excited about it.”