Foodservice

It’s Back! McLobster Now on McMenus in Atlantic Canada

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Look out operators of roadside hot shop seafood stands in Atlantic Canada, you’ve got major competition for lobster sandwiches now that the McDonald’s Restaurants chain has placed its seasonal McLobster back on the menu at 89 locations spanning Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and parts of Quebec.

mclobster2 smallThe limited-time offering – $6.79 for a sandwich only, or $8.99 if included in a meal – has come not a moment too soon for Maritime Canada’s beleaguered lobster fishery, according to the Halifax Chronicle Herald, which reports that catches have been abundant while sales have stalled.

The McLobster sandwich has achieved something like iconic status in the Maritimes, where demand has remained high throughout the summer among local customers and tourists alike, after 15 consecutive years of menuing, according to Jason Patuano, a regional communications manager for McDonald’s Restaurants.

Raymond-ONeill-logo-1The lobster meat, supplied in frozen form to McDonald’s by Lunenburg, Nova Scotia-based High Liner Foods Inc., was sourced from Raymond O’Neill & Son Fisheries, which operates a 45,000-square-foot processing plant in Escuminac, New Brunswick.

The McLobster sandwich is made with 100% Atlantic Canadian lobster meat and is served with light salad dressing, diced celery and shredded lettuce on a soft roll, which is the traditional style of preparing lobster sandwiches in Eastern Canada.

cleaning-tailsWorkers at Raymond O’Neill & Sons Fisheries process lobster for multiple uses, from tails sold at supermarkets and served at white tablecloth restaurants, to meat for McLobster Sandwiches now available on McDonald’s menus in Atlantic Canada.

McDonald’s will reportedly monitor regional market sales response to determine if it might make sense to roll the product out to other parts of Canada and perhaps to the New England region of the USA as well. Having appeared south of the border before, it is anticipated and welcomed by Americans hungry for a change from everyday hamburger, chicken sandwich and fillet-o-fish offerings.